Harry Potter and the Legend of Alana
by Moonz-n-Lil
Summary: The Legend tells of an ancient group of Wizards who awaited the arrival of the one destined to save wizarding world from evil. But the one never came...so why now? UPDATED As of 9-9-04
1. The Letter of Escape

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry or the other characters/places from the books. I only own the original parts of the story. The Harry Potter series is by J.K. Rowling. Not me. Please do not sue me. With that being said on to the story!

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Chapter 1 : The Letter of Escape

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Rubbing her eyes, a young girl with golden-brown hair and brown eyes walked to the door. As she stepped into the sun, she let it warm her bare shoulders and squinted into the light. She sighed and watched the sky, trying not to think about her life. She just sat watching the clouds make shapes as they moved around the sky.

"Taking a nap Celia?" Celia sat up to see Tom, the mailman, stopping by.

"Good morning." She greeted him, smiling.

"What's wrong lately?" he asked as he put the mail in the mailbox. Sitting down next to her he continued, "You don't seem like your cheerful self anymore. Did something happen?"

"Nothing that I really want to talk about, I had a rough year is all." She finished with a sigh, almost as though she was just realizing that it was over. Tom stood up getting ready to leave.

"Well I hope things are better for you next year. Here." He handed her a letter "This might cheer you up."

Celia looked at the letter and then back to Tom, confused.

"Check who it's from." 

Excitedly, Celia flipped the envelope over.

"It's from my uncle!" she exclaimed. Thoughts swarmed through her head as to what it could be. Her crazy Uncle Al, short for Albus, had always sent funny or interesting things in his letters. She used to ask her parents how he had done some of the things he did, but they would just smile and say 'That's your crazy Uncle Al.' Since that time she had stopped asking, but it still amazed her every time.

"Well, I'm glad that cheered you up." Tom continued. Celia had almost forgotten that he was still there. She laughed at herself and nodded that she was feeling happier. "In that case I'll be going back to work now. I hope its good news!" Celia smiled and waved goodbye. It was never bad news from Albus Dumbledore, even if he ever had bad news he never told her. Thinking about this she tore the envelope open.

My Dearest Niece,

I am writing to you with a proposition. Keep in mind that your parents have agreed to allow whatever you decide. It has come to my attention that you may need a break from your current social circle.

'How could he have known that?' Celia thought to herself. 'I haven't told anyone!' She continued the letter with a constantly increasing interest.

…My dear, it is my thought that you might wish to spend the next school year in England with me. If you so desire, you may be given special admittance to the school of which I am Headmaster. Should you choose to accept, I am sure that you will find it most interesting…

At that moment, a beautiful song reached her ears. It sounded like it came from a bird, but she had never heard a bird do _that_ before. Looking up from the letter, she found the source of the sound. Flying towards her was a beautiful red bird with pin-feathers almost like a peacock. The bird's colorings were the most pure forms of red, blue, and gold, so much that the color seemed to radiate from the bird's body.

I imagine that Fawkes has arrived by now. As it is a matter of great importance, I asked him to deliver your letter. Please write a letter of response and send it back with him, he will find me. I hope to hear from you soon.

Much Love,

Uncle Albus 

Celia looked up in awe at the bird that was currently perched gently on her knee. From this close she could look directly into its eyes. They were a kind of watery blue-green, not at all what she would expect from such a fiery bird. In its beak was an envelope with green writing on the label. It read:

****

Celia Alanus

24 Sandford Road

Sandy Ridge, New York 10627

The United States of America

North America, Western Hemisphere 

Earth; Third Planet from the Sun

The Milky Way

Celia laughed at the way her uncle addressed things. He always did those kinds of things that remind you just how small you were, but then wrote things that made you feel the most important. With this in mind, she patted the bird called Fawkes lightly on the top of his head and opened the new letter. Inside it read:

Dear Miss Alanus,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The term will begin on September the first. Enclosed in a list of supplies that you will need for this term we are looking forward to your arrival.

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress.

'Um…what?' was the first thought that came to Celia's mind. She had already decided that she would go; it was a chance for her to get out. A chance to think. Plus she could stay with her crazy favorite uncle. But this was really starting to get weird. 'Well, he did say it would be interesting.' She thought, absent-mindedly flipping to the supply list

1 Size 2 Pewter Cauldron

1 Wand

1 Hogwarts Uniform

'What?! Where am I going to get all this?'

And may bring if they desire, either an owl, cat, or toad…

'An owl? Toad?' As she read through everything, she decided to write back to her uncle right away. She ran inside and tried not to run into things, while her eyes adjusted. Then she remembered Fawkes. Sticking her head out the door she located the bird sitting in the tree in her yard.

"Good Fawkes, please wait for me." The bird made a nodding motion with its head and Celia wondered why that didn't surprise her more. Running back inside, she grabbed paper and pen and began writing out a letter.

Dear Uncle Al,

I got your letter; I would very much like to spend the school year at Hogwarts. I do have some problems though, and also some questions. Well here we go:

1) Wizarding school? Do you mean with magic? I didn't know that was real! Do mom and dad know? Is it a secret?

At this point in the letter, Celia looked outside for a minute and saw that Fawkes had burst into flames. In complete shock she rushed outside to the poor bird. In a matter of seconds, what had been the beautiful red bird was now a pile of ash. 'Oh no! Uncle Albus is going to kill me!!! What do I do? I killed his bird!' Continuing to stare at the ash and wondering how she was going to word what just happened, Celia noticed something moving. A small baby bird was poking its head out of the ashes and staring back into Celia's eyes.

"Uh, Fawkes?" 

The bird nodded again and Celia was swept with relief, confusion and awe. She rushed inside and continued her letter.

2) Is Fawkes a phoenix?

3) Pewter Cauldron?

4) Owl?

5) How am I going to get to Hogwarts?

6) Where am I going to get all this?

7) How am I going to pay for all this?

Celia looked over her list of questions and decided that she had covered everything for now.

I look forward to your reply and to seeing you this year.

Love always,

Your niece,

Celia

Folding the letter and addressing it to her Uncle she brought it out to baby Fawkes

"Do you think you can handle this yet?" Celia asked as Fawkes matched her skeptical look. "I didn't think so either," she answered as though Fawkes had answered her. "I guess you'll have to spend the night." She resolved. The rest of the day went by relatively uneventful. That night Celia dreamt of the year that she would be spending in her uncle's wizarding school.

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Author's note: Hey everyone! I hope you liked the story so far! Please review and let me know what you think of my story. It's a bit slow in the beginning, but it gets faster I promise. Well, that's all I have to say so far. On with Chapter 2!


	2. Flying Mail & A Change in Address

DISCLAIMER: I only own Celia and the legend itself. Yes I wrote the story, but all the other characters and Hogwarts belongs to J.K. Rowling and I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't really, really enjoy your work and I have no intention of making any money off of this so please don't sue me.

Authors note: This story was written by Moonz of Moonz_n_Lil…And now on to chapter 2!

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The next morning, Celia woke up to find Fawkes mature enough to bring her letter to her uncle. Seeing this, she grabbed her letter, raised her arm to Fawkes and walked to the front porch. On her way she grabbed some crackers that were on the counter and crumbled them up in her hand. Then she held them out to Fawkes who gladly ate them all. She assumed that Fawkes would carry her letter the same way he had carried her uncle's to her, so when she got outside she held it out to the bird. Fawkes took it with his beak and Celia patted him on the head and gave him a boost into the sky. Once in the air, he took off at an amazingly fast pace heading east. 'I wonder how long it will take.' Celia wondered watching the bird go.

"Celia!" Someone yelled from below. Celia looked down to see Tom coming up the driveway. She hoped that he had not seen the phoenix that just took off from her arm. She waved. "Good morning!" She yelled down noticeably less sad than the day before.

"What was the news?"

"I'm going to spend the year in England!" Celia answered. "Going to my uncle's school!" Celia wasn't sure whether or not she should mention what she would be studying; she decided not to say anyway, just in case.

"Really?" Tom yelled impressed. "That should be fun for you!"

"Yeah!" A rush of excitement hit her as she thought of just how much fun she would be have. Tom was gone for a moment as he dropped the mail in their mailbox and then he came out from under the porch again.

"When do you leave?" He asked. It hadn't occurred to her yet that she would have to leave much before the start of term. Today was Tuesday, and the last week of July. If the term started in September then she would most likely have to leave within the next two weeks.

"I would imagine soon." She answered. "The term starts on September first."

"Well then, we should have a good-bye party for you!" Celia smiled at the idea but she didn't really want to see any of her, anyone that she knew anytime soon.

"I don't know who I would invite, other than you and your family." 

Tom had been delivering mail to them every day, for almost every year of her life. Celia had lived in that house her whole life. They had known him for so long that he had become a friend of the family really more than a mail man. They both began making plans for her party, though they knew that it would most likely end up being a small gathering for coffee and cake. After a short while, Tom said that he would be in touch and he went on delivering mail.

The rest of the week went by quickly. The next day Celia and her mother went clothes shopping and on Friday the coffee party took place in Celia's honor.

"Have you packed yet?" Celia's mother asked.

"No, I haven't gotten word as to when I will be leaving yet." Celia's parents looked confused for a moment but then her mom realized her mistake.

"No, no dear, not for London, tomorrow we leave for the shore, don't you remember?" Celia was amazed that she had _not_ remembered. She always looked forward to the time they spent down the shore, though now she was nervous. 

"Mom, I just thought of something, what if Uncle Al sends a letter and we're not here?"

"Don't worry Celia," Tom began. "If he sends you anything I will forward it to you down the shore. You'll get your letter." Celia was slightly relieved at this because she had one way covered, but she wondered about Fawkes. Knowing not to mention the bird here, she made herself noticeably relieved and her parents seemed content.

"So I assume you haven't packed." Her father continued.

"No, not yet, but I will tonight, I promise." 

Later that night as she was packing, she thought of seaside and Hogwarts. 'This year is going to be great!' She thought to herself. 'I really hope Fawkes finds me.' At that moment, there was a thump outside her window as if something had just fallen from the air. Wondering if maybe it was Fawkes, Celia got up and went outside. Laying in a clump next to her window was a small owl. Actually, what it really looked like was a lump of feathers but somehow Celia knew it to be an owl. Celia couldn't believe her luck that an owl had crashed at her house. Normally, she wouldn't be so excited, but this owl was on its way to a witch or wizard. She could tell because strapped to its leg was a letter. Gently picking up the bird, she saw that the letter was addressed to someone named Ginny Weasley, who lived in a place called 'The Burrow' and whatever that was in England. Suddenly, Celia got the feeling that she would one day know this Ginny person very well. Although she really wanted to know what was in the letter, she knew that she would feel really bad if she read someone's personal life. Instead, she brought the bird into her room.

The bird looked tired, hungry, and totally over-spent. 'Poor thing' Celia thought. She didn't really know how to take care of an owl, but she assumed water was a given, and Fawkes had enjoyed the crackers so she grabbed a bunch of those from the kitchen and fed them to the small owl. When it was finished eating, she placed the bowl of water on a table for him to drink from. Celia gently pet the bird as it drank. 

"I wonder if you could do me a favor," she asked it getting used to talking to animals by now. Looking as though it was enjoying the kind treatment it was getting the bird chirped happily and Celia took that to be a yes.

"I have to get in touch with Albus Dumbledore," At the mention of her uncle's name, the bird straitened up as though it respected that man. "Ah you know him." she said. Suddenly, Celia wondered about Ginny again. "Wonderful!" She began as she wrote out a letter. "Could you please deliver this along with the other letter you've got, to Ginny, She should send it through to Dumbledore." Celia asked the bird. Again the owl chirped and Celia knew that he understood. "I'm really sorry about the extra weight though." It appeared that the bird either didn't care or was pretending not to because it lifted its leg for Celia to tie the second note to its leg. When the note was secure, the owl flapped its wings and puffed out its chest as though showing that it was ready to go. As Celia carried the bird to the porch and threw it into the wind, high enough to catch a good wind, she wondered how it was that her parents were never around when these strange things happened. 

When the owl was out of site, Celia went back into her room, thanking God that the owl had shown up, and finished packing. When she was done she straitened up her room and went to sleep. Between Ginny and Tom, her uncle would find her. Drifting off into sleep, she thanked God that things were working out for her.


	3. The End of the End and the Start of the ...

Author's note: I began writing this story before the 5th book came out…and when it did, I realized that some things didn't work, but I continued writing it as if all that stuff hasn't happened, so therefore, this is Harry's 5th year instead of the 5th book. Sorry about any confusion there.

DISCLAIMER: I own none of the characters from the Harry Potter books, but I do own Celia and I did make up the legend…As for everything else they are J.K. Rowling's so please don't sue me.

Here we are then! Chapter 3!

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The end of the end, and the start of the beginning.

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When Celia woke up the next morning, there was no Phoenix next to her bed. Nor did she hear any owls outside. For a moment her heart sank, she thought that everything that happened had been a dream. When she looked to see her suitcase it wasn't there. Her eyes began to water. 'Was it all really a dream?' She thought. She was about to start crying when her mom knocked on the door.

"Come on sleepyhead! We're leaving!" In shock for a moment, her eyes wandered to her computer table; on the keyboard was the Hogwarts letter. Suddenly her heart was flying and so was she. In a second she was brushing her teeth and turning on the shower.

"Mahm, whereth mah bagh?" she asked with her toothbrush still in her mouth.

"Daddy brought it out to the car the first time we tried to wake you up. You must have been tired."

'Huh' Celia shrugged. She hadn't really felt tired but lately she didn't really feel like ever waking up. She didn't like when she was in that kind of moods. As she got into the shower and let it wake her up she sighed. 'That's it!' She thought to herself. 'I am not going to let myself be like this anymore! I'm going to seaside; I'm spending the year at a magic school! Why am I so upset?' She knew why she was upset. She had realized this past year that she was in love with one of her friends at school. Right around that time, her best friend started to like him. Later she found out that they were going out behind her back and telling her that they weren't so that they wouldn't hurt her. She had felt so used and embarrassed and upset. And worst of all betrayed. 'I've been feeling bad about this for too long. And he's a real jerk now; he's not the one I loved. From this moment I will not waste a single thought on any of this!' Feeling a little better she finished her shower.

In 10 minutes she was ready to go and in the car. As they pulled down the driveway, Celia bid farewell to all the bad that had happened and smiled as they drove down the street.

***********

Ginny Weasley waited patiently at the window for Pig to come back. The owl's name was actually Pigwidgeon, but her brother Ron had started calling him Pig, and once Harry and Fred and George joined in the name stuck. Anyway, Ginny was waiting for a response from Hermione. She had met Hermione on the Hogwarts express in her first year at Hogwarts. Though Hermione was really her brother Ron's friend more than her own. Another friend of theirs was - 

"Hey Ginny!" Ginny froze for a minute when she heard Harry's greeting. He had simply shouted to her on his way up to Ron's room.

"Hello Harry!" She yelled back, hoping she didn't sound as flushed as she was. That was Harry, Harry Potter, the final member of the Weasley family. Harry was the most famous boy in the wizarding world. Ginny was sure that was where the crush started. Not that she cared about the fame; it was why he was famous that she liked him. 

As a baby, Harry unknowingly defeated the powerful dark wizard Voldemort, making it once again safe in the wizarding world. Since that time, Harry had proven himself very brave. The year before her first year at Hogwarts, he came upon Voldemort and again spoiled his plans. Then in her first year, Harry had gone into the Chamber of Secrets and killed the deadly Basilisk, not to mention saving her life, and again spoiling Voldemort's plans. The next year, Harry was in danger of being killed by Sirius Black, who was also Harry's Godfather. He had escaped from Azkaban and was on the loose; the only wizard ever to have escaped from that place. Then in Ginny's 3rd year, this past one, Voldemort came back to life, living body and all. He had murdered a Hufflepuff boy called Cedric Diggory and tried to kill Harry as well. Harry barely escaped and it was let known to us that Sirius Black really wasn't the enemy after all. That year, Dumbledore, their headmaster, and Cornelius Fudge the Minister of Magic, reached a 'parting of the ways,' each having their own ways of dealing with the return of Voldemort to power. 

Thinking of all this, Ginny was both nervous and excited about what would happen this year. She was sure though that whatever happened, in a school with Dumbledore, and the so far unbeatable team of Harry, Ron and Hermione, she would come out of whatever happened alive.

Ginny heard Ron's footsteps coming down the stairs. He was going to try to sneak into the refrigerator to get the pudding mum had made for dessert. For a wizarding family they had a lot of muggle artifacts in the house. Ron had coming down constantly trying to devise a way to get into the pudding. Ginny rolled her eyes. 

"Mum put a spell on it." She warned as Ron, who had just reached for the pudding, was thrown halfway across the room, slamming down onto the floor. "Told ya." She giggled, turning back to the window. Ron scowled and began to head back to his room. As he entered, he made the mistake of not closing his door all the way. Ginny took his mistake as a chance to listen a bit to what Harry and he were saying. 

When they returned home from school last year, their mother put a spell on the whole house and its surroundings that would magnify any sound times 3. The reason for this was the combination of her twin older brothers'; Fred and George's, plans to make prank items for their joke shop that they wanted to run, and because of Voldemort regaining a body. With the magnification, she could hear Harry and Ron's conversation without even trying. Guiltily, she resolved never to tell a single word either of them said to anyone or anything. Feeling better about it, she continued listening.

"Sorry Harry, Mum's put a spell on it so that anyone who tries for it gets thrown into the wall." Ginny heard Harry laugh, Ron must have still been holding his back as he spoke.

"Aw shut up Harry!" She heard him say. Harry's laughter became somewhat quieter until there was silence for a minute. Shortly after that the two continued talking.

"Anyway, have you had anymore dreams about it Harry?" It occurred to Ginny that there must be quite a bit that Hermione and Ron knew that she didn't. There must have also been a lot more that Harry only told Ron. Feeling both excited and guilty about this, Ginny remembered her resolve and continued listening. Harry must have nodded because Ron was now asking,

"Was it bad?" Harry must have continuously been nodding because Ron was getting answers and Ginny couldn't hear them.

"Well? Come on then Harry! Tell me! What happened?" There was silence for a second and then she heard Harry speak very softly.

**Authors note: this next bit is up in Harry's room, Ginny hears what is being said but doesn't see anything else. Sorry for the confusion there. **

"Ron, I -" Harry broke off here; he was having a hard time saying what it was that had happened in his dream. How could it be? He thought back over it looking for a way to make it different but there wasn't one. They were going to lose a friend this year. There was no getting around it. She was going to be killed. Harry looked up at Ron. He knew how much it would hurt him to hear it. He didn't want to tell him. But he knew Ron would want to know.

"Harry tell me! What happened? One of us gets hurt right? So it's not like someone dies rig-" The look on Harry's face was enough to tell anyone. Yes, someone was going to die. Probably someone they cared for a great deal.

"Ron, you're not going to want to hear this." Harry started. "But this year, some one we both care about very much is going to, she's going to be, You-Know-Who is going to-" 

Ginny's body turned rigid. Harry Potter, the boy who lived, had not said Voldemort the way he used to. He had said 'You-Know-Who' He was actually now showing fear of him. It was enough to send chills of desperation through her body.

"Say Voldemort dammit!" She heard Ron yell. He must have been shocked too. Harry becoming afraid of the dark lord was almost like having a dementor suck your hope away.

"Ron don't!" Harry was saying. "I know that it is silly but think about it! If we know that he's going to kill her then wouldn't you want to do everything to keep him away? Please, it might be stupid but say You-Know-Who!" He paused here. "She'd do the same for us."

"Harry this is crazy!" Ron was saying. "You've faced Voldemort, yes Voldemort Harry, loads of times and you're still here. Fear in a name, increases fear in the thing itself! Remember? Hermione said that and she was right! She-" Ron stopped abruptly. The look in Harry's eyes when he had mentioned her name seemed to sadden. Ron gaped at him with fear.

"Harry, you don't mean…please…tell me it's not; it's not Hermione who dies is it?"

"Say Ginny!" Ginny nearly hit her head on the window. She had begun to listen so intently that she hadn't even heard Fred and George come down the stairs.

"Shhh!" Ginny scolded, forgetting that she wasn't really supposed to be listening to Ron and Harry's conversation. The twins exchanged looks.

"Aw man! I can't hear anything else!" Ginny complained. Fred and George donned their usual smirks.

"Listening in on Ron and Harry were you?"

"Who would have thought? Our dear little sister, the one to follow in our footsteps on the path of mischief." The two of them looked as though they would burst into tears of joy. George sighed.

"Anyway, we regret to inform you that our dear brother has shut his door, so you won't be hearing any more today." Ginny was disappointed at this, but she had heard enough to keep her mined occupied for quite some time. Sighing, she said.

"So, what did you want then?"

"Ah yes!" George said, "The matter at hand. Do you happen to know where Pig has gotten to?" Ginny, for a moment, completely forgot that she was waiting for Hermione's letter. Blinking once, she remembered and told the twins that he would be back soon.

"Alright then, let us know when he's back then." They said.

"I think you'll know." Ginny pointed out. "You'll hear him."

"Ah! Well spoken young sister." Fred replied, mocking seriousness. It was true. Pig was high-pitched and annoying to begin with, the Sonorus spell that their mother had put on the house made him more fatal than a mandrake.

"Well, we'll be back then." Fred told her, as George ate a spoonful of the pudding that was in the fridge. Ginny looked at him in shock.

"How did you? I thought - What about the spell?" 

George just smiled at her.

"Tricks of the trade sis, tricks of the trade." Fred told her as they left the room. Ginny, still amazed, smiled and turned back to the window.

In a few minutes, Ginny saw the speck in the sky that was Pig.

'Finally!' she thought as Pig flew around her head in circles. Ginny, rather than try to stop him, stood patiently, waiting for him to calm down and pass out from the long trip as usual. This time came very quickly; as he was coming from the states, and Ginny reached down to pick him and the letter up. Ginny placed him on his perch and removed Hermione's letter. Untying it, she noticed that there was another letter attached to Pigs leg. It was labeled 'Urgent - Please forward this letter to Albus Dumbledore' Ginny opened the letter quickly and read:

'Dear Uncle Al, 

I sent a letter with Fawkes which I imagine you must already have, however I have not heard from you letting me know how I am going to get there and the other information. I have gone to the seaside house and I wanted to make sure that you knew where I was. I am hoping that whoever this Ginny is will forward this to you as soon as possible.

Anxiously awaiting your word,

Your niece,

Celia 

Finishing the letter, Ginny folded it up and headed upstairs, heading for Ron's room. Outside the door, the twins were setting up a 'booby-trap' so that the next person to exit the room would be thrown backwards into it.

"Pig is back!" Ginny shouted, loud enough for Harry and Ron to hear. The door into Ron's room opened and immediately Ron was pulled out and thrown into the wall.

"I guess we haven't gotten it right yet." George commented as he, Fred, Harry and Ginny began to laugh.

"Real funny." Ron said sarcastically rubbing his nose.

"Say Ron," Harry began between laughs "Would you say that's about what happened when you went for the pudding?" Ron made a face at him and the rest of the group exploded with laughter.

When everyone had calmed down, Fred and George went to find Pigwidgeon and Ginny asked Harry to use Hedwig.

"What for?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"I have to send a letter to Dumbledore. It's important" She answered, waiting for the shock that statement would cause.

"Dumbledore?" Harry and Ron said in unison. Harry continued first.

"Ginny, are you ok? What do you need from Dumbledore?" He asked genuinely concerned. Harry had come to love Ginny as his own sister. It had started in his second year. When Ginny was taken into the chamber of secrets, he had been worried for his best friend's sister, the way anyone would be worried about a friend's sibling. After he had found her, and they were safe, Ginny had been so scared. She wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shirt. 'I was so scared!' she had cried. 'I'm so sorry! This…this was all my fault! I was so scared Harry!' He had comforted her, saying 'It's not your fault.' and, 'It's ok, it's over, we're safe now.' It was when she was crying and scared that she was no longer Ron's little sister. She was family. She was his own little sister.

Ginny smiled that Harry was concerned. 

"No, it's not me, I'm fine." She said, both Ron and Harry noticeably relieved. "It's this." She told them, holding out the letter. After reading it, the boys exchanged looks of surprise. Suddenly, there were questions.

"Dumbledore has a niece?"

"New girl then."

"I wonder what year she's in?"

"Wait a sec, Ginny I thought Hermione was in the states."

"Hermione went to America?"

"Yeah you know her, they're always going somewhere."

"So, Dumbledore's niece lives in the states?"

"I still can't believe Dumbledore has a niece!"

"'Please if you can, ask Fred and George to take your car and bring my niece here, I think she needs some of their take to life. Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore.' "

Everyone had turned to listen to Fred and George who had come into the room holding a letter.

"Ah dear Fred, it seems that we have found a subject to test out delightful candies on." George commented dreamily.

"Yeah, oh hang on! Blimey!" Fred was still reading "She's a Harry!"

"A what?!" Harry, Ron and Ginny exclaimed in unison. George had leaned over to see what Fred was talking about.

"Wha-? Dumbledore's niece is muggle-born!"

"That's right!" Harry remembered. "Remember? Hagrid told us, that Dumbledore wasn't pure blood." Ron remembered it. It was in their second year. Malfoy had called Hermione a 'mud blood.' Hermione had started crying and Ron ended up puking slugs for nearly an hour. Just thinking of it got Ron upset at Malfoy. But he remembered Hagrid telling Hermione not to listen to him because there was nearly not a witch or wizard in the world that wasn't half blood or less.

"Wow." Ginny stated. Then she turned back to Harry. So, do you think she'd mind?"

"Who?" Harry asked confused.

"Hedwig! Remember?" A light bulb went off somewhere in Harry's mind. "We can't use Pig because he might die on the way; he's already been cross-country and back." Harry looked at Hedwig who was perched happily on top of her cage. They were going to send Sirius a letter about his dream, but this letter seemed important to Dumbledore's niece. He decided that Sirius's letter could wait.

"Yeah, no problem, she's been cooped up all summer anyway, I'm sure she'd enjoy it." She said taking the letter from Ginny and attaching it to the snowy-white owl. Harry told her where the letter was going and that it was important and then brought her to the window. Hedwig took off quickly in the direction of Hogwarts.

That being taken care of, Fred and George went back to their room and Ginny went to go read Hermione's letter while Harry and Ron talked about everything from quidditch to potions.

When Mr. and Mrs. Weasley got home, and dinner was on the table, they all discussed the events of the day, save Harry's dream and the twins' pranks. Because it was Dumbledore's suggestion, the twins were given permission to pick up Celia upon Dumbledore's word. Hermione's letter said that her vacation was going well and that she would be heading home soon as scheduled. Mr. Weasley discussed the going ons at work. For a while he had been rather shunned because of the fact that he and his family had 'sided' with Dumbledore. Mrs. Weasley remarked, bringing out the pudding, (causing Ron to choke and Harry, Ginny, Fred and George to snicker,) that it was 

"So silly! Honestly, we are all on the same side! Ron, what's the matter with you all?" At this comment, the 4 of them could do nothing but break into laughter all over again.

After dinner was eaten, pudding jokes were finished, and the dishes had begun to wash themselves, everyone headed up to bed. Before going to sleep, Harry gave Hedwig the note to Sirius, patted her gently and thanked her for delivering the note to Dumbledore. Settling down to sleep, Harry thought of the year before them, and slept a dreamless sleep.


	4. Flying Cars & Exploding Candy

Author's note: Please review, I would really love to hear what you think! Thanks! Also, I recently changed Celia's last name from Evansence, to Alanus, I think I was able to change all the names but I apologize if I missed one. 

DISCLAIMER: All I own is the original plot, Celia and her family, and the legend itself. Hogwarts itself and all other characters are property of J.K. Rowling, the richest woman in England who doesn't need to sue me for the money I don't have J on with the show!

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Chapter 4 : Flying cars & Exploding Candy

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Celia woke up early in the morning, and went for a walk on the beach. She had left a note to her parents, as they were not yet awake, and went on her way. She loved summer mornings. The sun wasn't too hot yet, and the streets were quiet, and the beach and ocean deserted and beautiful. She was wearing a light summer skirt that went over the bottom of her two-piece bathing suit. Her hair was down and behaving nicely today. When she reached the beach, she took her sandals off and slid into the sand. She sighed contentedly. It was a perfect morning. The wind was blowing just enough to play with her skirt and hair, but not enough to be cold. She left her sandals buried in the sand so she wouldn't have to carry them with her, and walked towards the rocks that jut out into the water. There she stood watching the waves.

When she was settled, she began to think about Hogwarts. 

'How is it that I am I going to a wizarding school?' She thought amazed. 'I still can't believe that it's not all make-believe!' She thought. 'I wonder how I am going to get there.' She kept imagining what it would be like to be in a wizarding school until soon the peaceful surroundings and the sound of the ocean lulled her to sleep. Suddenly she was back at school. Images and sounds were flooding her mind.

__

'I don't want you to go out with him,'

"Well that's too bad, you lost your chance"

"What? How can you say that when you know that I -"

"Say that you love him."

"I can't, if I say it I'll cry,"

"You can't tell me not to go out with him just because you have a stupid little crush!"

"How can you do this to me?"

"You know what? I don't care anymore!"

"You know Celia, you just have to get over it."

Celia woke up with a start and realized that the tide had been coming in around her. Jumping to her start she ran down the rocks and onto the beach. Hitting the sand she fell to her hands and knees and began to cry. 'Why?' she asked in her mind.

'Why did you have to do this to me? Both of you! How could you? I-I thought I could trust you! You were my friends! Julia! You were my best friend! You knew I loved him!' She choked on her sobs and fell entirely down, her face in her arms, crying. 

When she was done crying, Celia lay in the sand just thinking. She felt so tired. That was how she had felt for so long now. She wished it would stop. Finally, she decided to get up and start home. When she got to her sandals she picked them up and walked barefoot back to the house. When she got there she was glad to find that it was empty. Her parents had left a note that they went down to the pier and that they would be back around 3. Celia looked at the clock. It was 1:25. Plenty of time to take a long shower. She knew they would go to the boardwalk tonight. Celia left her sandals in the hall and headed into the bathroom. 

As she was undressing she looked at herself in the mirror. She had definitely grown from the little boyish girl that she used to be when she was little. However, she noticed removing the bottom of her bathing suit, that she still retained a young girl's clumsiness. Countered with what looked like it should have been graceful, she made a very innocent appearance. She wasn't really sure if she liked that idea or not, but she shrugged it off and stepped into the hot shower. Sighing happily as the warm water relaxed her muscles her mind began to wander. Suddenly, she was bombarded by all the memories of him. Times when he was the one who rubbed her back, relaxing her muscles, instead of the water. All the hugs, the games, the conversations… 

'No!' The thought was so forceful that she actually shook her head and slammed her palm in to her forehead, as if trying to knock the memories off her brain. 'Why? You've already stolen my happiness! You took everything! Cant' I at least have one shower?!' She squeezed her eyes shut and tried desperately to think of something else. She was too afraid to think of the year ahead, she didn't want the two thoughts to become connected. Finally, the intrusive thoughts left her head and she finished her shower and went to her room to get dressed. She put on a tank top and shorts and lied down on her bed listening to a CD of hers. In what turned out to only be a few minutes later, Celia heard a rapping on her window. Mildly startled, she went to the window to see what it was. Looking out, she saw that the sun was beginning to set and outside her window was an owl carrying a letter. Celia opened the window and let the bird fly in. The owl perched atop her bedpost and Celia lowered the window, leaving it open a little to let in some fresh air. Closing her door, she went to the owl and took the letter. Patting her absent-mindedly, Celia opened the letter and began to read.

'My dear niece,

Ginny Weasley intercepted your letter and forwarded it immediately to me, as you asked. It was very lucky of you to find that particular owl, as the Weasleys will soon become quite a big part of your life, I imagine. As will Mr. Harry Potter, as it was his owl whom they chose to deliver your letter to me. In the future, you need not worry over a change in address, the owls will find you.

Now then, you had questions, to which I have answers.

1.) Yes, it is a wizarding school with real magic. Yes it is a secret, and yes your parents do know. It is imperative that our world remain a secret to the muggle, or non-magic population, however, because you are family, you and your family are trusted.

2.) Yes, as you noticed, Fawkes is a phoenix, and no, the flames were not a fault of yours. I noticed on his return that he looked younger.

3.) Your escorts will be Fred and George Weasley, I imagine they will help you get all your supplies though I advise you not to take anything they give you for consumption, especially candy, as you may temporarily be turned into a canary.'

At this Celia's eyes nearly popped out of her head and she made a neon-colored mental note to remember that.

'4.) As you have noticed, owls are used to carry posts, or mail as you call it. You may have the one that brought you this letter if you like, however, if I may, there is a slight mystery about her that even I cannot explain. She is a very trustworthy animal and a very fast one at that.

5.) You will be taking the Hogwarts Express with the Weasleys to get here; they will take care of you until you leave to come here. You will be in good hands with them as they are a very loving, and trustworthy family.

6.) Diagon Alley has everything you need.

7.) Just tell them to send me the bill; I will let the shop owners know ahead of time to expect you.

Fred and George will pick you up by car on August 20th and bring you to their home for the remainder of the summer.'

'That's in 2 days!' Celia realized. 

'Please confirm to your parents that you will be in exceedingly safe hands.

I look forward to seeing you on September the first. If you have any questions feel free to write.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore'

Celia put the note down relieved. 'Good, at least I know what is going on now.' She thought to herself. She looked at the Silvery-white owl that had remained perched on her bed post.

"Well I guess you're mine now." She said to it. The own chirped in a way that Celia took to be an agreement and the bird continued to look around the room.

"I suppose you have a name?" The bird was silent. "No name? That won't do." The owl now looked at her with interest, as though waiting for her to speak.

"Well, would you like a name?" Chirp. "Ok, chirp if you like it and stay silent if you don't." Chirp. Celia thought for a moment and looked the bird over. She was a beautiful owl. Her eyes were a beautiful sea-green and she had a patch of white feathers under her beak down through her belly. On her wings, and back she had gray feathers with touches of silver on the base and tips of each individual feather. Her tail was more like Fawkes's than an owl's. Her tail feathers were longer and there was silver lining the feathers and also at the ends. There was also some silver mixed in with gray middle of her tail feathers. A common name just wouldn't work for her. She needed a mysterious name. Celia looked again into the owls eyes. They were like a gem, but more beautiful than any gem she had seen. And clear, like the water of the Caribbean, but a little darker, and paler at the same time. The only thing she could think of that was supposed to have that kind of coloring was…

"I know!" She told the owl "Tell me if you don't like it but how about 'Pegasus'?" The bird was silent for a moment, but it seemed like she was thinking rather than rejecting. Finally, the bird brightened and chirped.

"Great!" Celia said happily, "Pegasus then." She smiled at her new bird and was truly happy at the way her life was. That minute she heard her parents come in and she left her room to greet them. They were laughing about something that happened at the pier and they looked so happy that Celia herself couldn't help but smile. She told them about Pegasus and the letter and her parents went to her room to go see her new pet. Her father told her that she should leave her window open in case Pegasus wanted to go hunting, so Celia opened it enough for her to get in and out of.

That evening, while they ate dinner, the family talked about all they had done that day.

"I was wondering." Celia said. "Why weren't you more upset that I was gone for so long? Weren't you worried?"

"We were a little worried baby but your father and I know that you can take care of yourself by now-"

"And we know the patrol guards." Her father cut in mocking aggressiveness. Celia and her mother chuckled at him and her mother continued.

"We know that you have been a bit down lately so we thought it would be a good idea for you to have some time alone to think." Celia guessed that her parents had talked about her and decided not to pry because they weren't asking any questions about why she had been 'a bit down' as her mom put it. She was grateful to them for that.

"Oh," she answered. "Thanks then, I was just curious is all. I did need the time alone." She told them. Dinner went by pleasantly and that night they went to the boardwalk as a family. The next day it rained. Celia and her mother went clothes shopping in honor of the new school and they met her father for lunch on the boardwalk. The day was pretty uneventful. That night, before dinner, Celia packed up her bags and after dinner they all sat in the living room playing cards and watching TV.

"We have something for you," Celia's mother began. As if on cue, her father rose and walked into their bedroom. "We sent to your uncle asking which would be the best one." Her father, coming back into the room took over.

"Celia, there are times in everyone's life when they wish they could escape from the world for a while." 'You got that right.' Celia thought. Her father continued. "Not everyone gets that chance, but you, you have a very special gift. And we want you to have this." Her father handed her a broom. It looked brand-new, there was a thin coat of gloss on the handle, and it appeared to have been waxed recently. Celia nearly fell off her chair. 'A broom?' she thought 'that whole speech about a broom?' Looking up at her parents, a confused look on her face, she asked. 

"You want me to clean?" Both her parents started to laugh when they saw the problem.

"Sweetie," her mother began, "Think back to all the stories about witches and wizards you have ever heard; what do _you_ think?" Celia's eyes popped out of their sockets and her mouth dropped open wide.

"You mean I can fly on this?" Her parents smiled. She was ecstatic; looking back down at the broom she took a closer look at its handle. Shining in gold and silver near the top were the words 'Hermes 5000.'

"It's a racing broom." Her father informed her. "The fastest they've got, or so your uncle says." Celia ran her fingers over the writing. 'Hermes 5000' she thought. On either side of the silver writing were the golden-feathered shoes of Hermes, the messenger of the Greek gods. Celia looked up at her parents beaming.

"Thank you so much!" she cried, her eyes starting to tear. She didn't need him, her life was amazing, she was going to a wizarding school, she could fly now, she could easily live without him. 'Thank you' she thought silently to herself, 'I just realized that my life isn't so bad after all. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it.'

Celia went to bed that night and dreamt of flying her new Hermes 5000. When she woke up the next morning, for the first time in a long time, her first thoughts were of the future; not the past. 

Celia woke up early the next morning and got dressed. She took some care in making herself look good, without making it seem as though she cared. And sprayed vanilla scent on herself lightly. Making sure all her things were ready and giving Pegasus some leftovers from her breakfast, she went out for a final walk on the beach. The day was a bit foggy as it was early, but she could feel the warmth of the sun anyway. This time, she sat in the sand, rather than the rocks, and stared out at the ocean. It was such a calming scene. Good thing too, because her nerves were jumping. 'I hope everyone likes me.' She thought. 'I'm the niece of the headmaster; they might think that I am getting an easy break. Well, I'll have to prove otherwise, I'll just be myself, and hope that I am someone they like.' Celia settled her mind and reached into her pocket. There was candy inside. 

'Don't take anything they give you, especially candy…' Her uncle had warned. 'Well, if it's a joke they want, it's a joke they're going to get.' She thought to herself. Just then, Celia heard a familiar chirping. She turned and saw Pegasus flying towards her. On instinct, she put her arm out and Pegasus landed on it. She had heard that birds of prey have some serious talons and that they could rip up your arms pretty well, but for some reason, this didn't happen with Pegasus. Faintly she remembered something her uncle said about a mystery but tossed it aside, it wouldn't be something that small.

"Pegasus," She asked the bird. "What are you doing here?" As if answering her question, Pegasus flew into the air and spun around rapidly, letting off a silvery-white glow, then came back down to rest on her shoulder. A moment later, two boys appeared climbing over the sand dunes. Both had red hair and freckles, and the same eyes, and height, and -- hang on, they were exactly alike, from the way they were walking, to the mischievous gleams in their eyes, without a doubt, these were the Weasleys. Something clicked.

"Oh, I see," She said to Pegasus. "You were leading them to me. That was very clever Pegasus!" She praised, stroking her feathers.

"Oi!" One of the boys yelled, "You wouldn't happen to be Celia Alanus would you?"

*****************************

George lowered the car to the ground, looked to be sure that no muggles were around and enabled visibility. 

"What did mum say again?" he asked.

"She said to look for a glow. There's some sort of phowl there or something."

"Lucky girl this one, getting a Phowl!"

"Yeah but she's muggle born and raised," George said, the gears in his brain turning. "We can test the candy-form canary creams" The twins smiled connivingly. They had been given strict orders not to test any of their new creations on Dumbledore's niece, but the canary-cream formula had already been tested on Neville last year. Nothing had been said about the F&G approved formulas, so the boys decided that this wasn't against the rules.

"Poor girl." Fred lamented mockingly. "Oi! There it is! Look there!" He said suddenly, pointing to a house on the left.

"Hold on then," George said as he recklessly turned into the driveway next to the house, giving them both a slight case of whiplash and fatally wounding a wooden stick holding a box labeled 'mail' on the front.

"Dreadfully sorry about that. I hope it wasn't important." George said getting out of the car. Flying the car was easy by now, but the muggle way, with all the lines and colors was just too confusing. The two of them walked to the door and knocked firmly. A woman with dark brown hair opened the door.

"Can I help you?" She asked, giving the boys a suspicious look.

"We're here to pick up Celia Alanus," Fred told her. "Does she live here?"

The woman's face suddenly lit up with recognition.

"Oh! You must be the Weasleys! Yes, you've got the right house, I'm Celia's mother, but I'm afraid she's not here right now, she's gone down to the beach for a bit"

"Would you be able to tell us how to get there?"

"Of course, please come in." The woman opened the door for them and they both went inside and looked around. There was not a bit of magic in the whole place.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how exactly did you get here?" She asked.

"Car." George said nonchalantly

"Car? From Britain? How did you get over the ocean?"

"Flew." Fred answered in the same tone.

"Flew." Mrs. Alanus said skeptically. She was completely taken aback. He had said the word flew as though it were nothing. She knew that as wizards this was an easy thing for them, but the idea that it wasn't even special to them was something that she wasn't expecting. She then realized suddenly just what what they had said really meant. "You mean your car flies?" They both nodded.

"But don't go telling' everyone that." One of the boys said. "Dad'll get into loads of trouble; we're not supposed to bewitch muggle items." He finished.

"I see, I'm sorry, I just realized, what were your names?"

"He's George, and I'm Fred, Weasley" At that moment, a silver and white owl flew towards them. On instinct, Fred put his arm out and the bird landed on it. The pain he was expecting never came, and for a moment he thought the bird was still hovering. 

"Ah, so you're the one who led us here," George said, addressing the bird.

"Thanks for that." Fred said, recovering from the surprise of not feeling her land.

"How did she lead you here?" Mrs. Alanus asked.

"Oh she let off a glow. Very common for phowls."

"Phowls?"

"It's a common name for messenger owls that are half phoenix like this one here." Fred said, now turning towards the bird. "Say would you be able to lead us to where Celia is?" He asked it. She chirped and spread her wings, letting them know that she was ready to go.

"The beach is very close," Celia's mother told them. "You could walk from here." She told them noting the mailbox.

"Excellent, Fred here isn't too good at driving, on the ground."

"What are you talking about? You drove the car!"

"Yeah, but you can't prove it!"

"Don't have to, you just did."

The boys left the house with the phowl still laughing about the car. 

'Strange boys,' Mrs. Alanus thought to herself.

The phowl flew ahead of them, always keeping close enough so that they could see her. Finally, they came to a sand dune and the phowl let off a silvery glitter in the air, a little ways past it. Celia was under her. Fred and George began to climb over the sand dune and when they reached the top they saw her. In the distance stroking the phowl was a girl. She was looking straight at them. Celia. 

"Oi!" Fred shouted. "You wouldn't happen to be Celia Alanus would you?"

"Yeah that's me." The girl yelled back. "And you are the Weasleys aren't you?" She asked, the boys coming closer.

"That's right, he's Fred and I'm George."

"Nice to meet you." Celia said. She looked the boys over. George had his hand in his pocket and wore a smirk on his face. 'He's got the treats then.' she thought to herself.

"Did you walk here?" She asked wondering if they used any magic.

"From your house we did, your phowl showed us the way. Nice bird that one. You get it from Dumbledore?" Fred asked.

"What? You mean Pegasus? Yeah, my uncle sent her." Celia began as they started walking back. "What's a phowl?"

"What? You mean you don't know?" Celia shook her head "Man, you really are a muggle." George commented.

"Muggle? Oh that's right! Non-magic people." She reminded herself. She saw right away that she would have a lot to learn. "Uh- Sorry," She apologized.

"Nah, it's ok, it's not like you had people to tell you." Fred told her. "I mean Harry was clueless too when he came back, and well -- he's Harry Potter!" Celia felt better at this, and the 3 continued walking.

"Oh yeah!" George said as if remembering something he was supposed to do. "This is from my mum," He told Celia. "I guess you could call it a welcoming present." He finished handing what looked like normal hard candy over to Celia. 

'Ah! This is it!' Celia thought. 'Yeah right, welcoming, more like initiation.' Celia took the candy and sniffed it. 'Perfect!' She thought, recalling her own candy in her pocket. 'It looks just like the jaw-breaker I have!'

"Is this wizarding candy?" She asked the boys.

"Yeah go on, try it!" George said, smiling.

"Thanks!" Celia said, raising the candy to her mouth with one hand and reaching into her pocket with the other. When she had almost reached her mouth, she feigned dropping the candy and caught it with her other hand. "Whoa, that was close" she said, popping her own jaw-breaker into her mouth. She watched the twins' expectant glare and snickered in her mind. "Wow! This is really good!" she exclaimed. "Thank you!" Then she put her hand back into her pocket. "Oh hang on!" She said, pulling out the Fred and George's own candy. "I only have one piece but maybe I can split it." She offered, attempting to pull the candy apart. It wouldn't break. "Oh, ok well pick a number then." She told them. Fred and George, who were still in watching her confused, absent-mindedly obeyed.

"Five." Fred guessed.

"Seven." 

"George got it." Celia told them handing him the candy. "Here you go," she said. "Try it."

"Um, thanks" George responded, still watching her. He raised the candy and popped it into his mouth. It wasn't until a second later that he saw his mistake. His face turned to shock and Celia smiled victoriously at the over-sized canary across from her while Fred, in shock, doubled over in laughter. Celia couldn't help but laugh as well. She hadn't known what the effect of the candy would be, but the results were better than she had ever imagined.

"Oh! I am so sorry!" Celia said, mocking sincerity. "I must have _switched _them!" She giggled connivingly as George's feathers began to molt. "Oops!" she said innocently between giggles as Fred continued snickering. He was staring at her with a look of shock and awe. 

"My uncle warned me about taking candy from the two of you!" She said with a playful smirk. George smiled and Fred tried to get a hold of his laughter.

On the way back to the beach house, Fred and George joked with Celia freely and she felt as though with her little prank she had proven herself to the both of them. When they reached the house, her parents had gotten her luggage from her room and placed it inside the door, along with her racing broom.

"Wow!" George, who was now back to his human form, exclaimed running up to it.

"Oh! Tell me that's what I think it is!" Fred asked in awe.

"A Hermes 5000!" Fred and George sank to their knees in unison as a tribute to the broom. Celia couldn't help but giggle at them.

"A Hermes!" Fred exclaimed getting up. "Cel, where'd you get one? Even Harry still has a Firebolt and he always gets the newest stuff!" Suddenly, Celia felt out of place. It didn't seem fair that she should have these things when she really didn't know anything about the magic world, nor the true worth of the things she had.

"Uh, my parents got me that. I feel kind of odd though, having all this, I mean I don't even know how to ride a broomstick." She told them, feeling a little shy.

"Don't worry, we'll teach you how." George told her. "I suppose you're not first year then huh? What year _will_ you be in?"

"I really don't know." Celia answered just remembering that this was no vacation. Magic, or no magic, it was a school.

"Well, how old are you then?" Fred asked.

"Sixteen"

"Well that's 6th year then." He answered. "We're in our 7th year." He told her.

"Our brother Ron an' Harry are in their 5th." George said. "Ginny's in her 4th-"

"Did you just say Ginny?" Suddenly Celia remembered about the owl.

"Yeah, our sister Ginny."

"Your sister! Ginny is your sister?" Celia was almost too excited. "Then it must have been _your_ owl that I found! I sent a letter to my uncle, and your Ginny made sure that it got to him."

"Yeah I remember, she asked Harry to borrow Hedwig for that." Fred recalled. It seemed as though something was pushing her towards this family. First she finds their owl, and then they are the ones that would come to get her. It was like fate.

When everything was packed into the car and the three were well fed, it was time to go. Celia's mother and father stood by the car and took turns wishing their daughter well. Her mother stepped forward first.

"Goodbye sweetheart," she began. Celia knew how hard it would be for her mother. Celia had never been to a boarding-type school before. Her parents were used to seeing her everyday after school. Celia hugged her mother.

"I'll be alright mom."

Next it was her dad's turn. He hugged her tightly, more for her than him, and brought her arms length.

"Fly high Celia." He told her. "Fly high."

When they were done saying goodbye, Celia walked to where Fred and George were leaning on the car. Fred, almost jokingly opened the door for her while George made a motion with his hands and bowing said,

"You first my lady." With a smirk on his face. Celia laughed and grabbed Fred's hand to 'help her into the car.'

"Why thank you!" She said, playing along.

"Well, here we go then!" George told them, when they were finally in the car.

"Bye mom!" Celia said waving.

"Don't worry! We'll take good care of her! We promise!" Fred confirmed. Waving goodbye, they drove down the road and turned the corner. 

"I've just thought of something." Celia said casually.

"What's that?" asked George.

"How are we going to get to London in a car? We can't drive there can we?"

"No." Fred answered, playing with the gears. "We can't, and we don't intend to." As if thinking with the same mind, Fred pulled the gear stick up, hard, and George pushed a button in the middle of the dashboard. All at once, the car was in the air and the hood and outside of the car had vanished. Celia looked out her window amazed. 

"I don't believe it!" Celia cried. "We're flying! We're really flying!" Fred and George smiled as Celia pointed out different places on the ground. "Look! There're the roller coasters! Oh! That one's so much fun!" She exclaimed pointing to a large green structure filled with water. 

"What is it?" George asked.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me! You've never been on a roller coaster?" Both the twins shook their heads.

"We don't really know all that much about muggle stuff." Fred told her. Celia got an idea.

"Ok! I have an idea, land the car. I'll teach you some muggle stuff, and you can teach me about wizards. You can't go through life having never ridden a roller coaster! What do you say?" There was a silence. George glanced at the time.

"We do have until tomorrow to bring her back." He mused.

"See?" Celia encouraged excitedly. "Please? Oh pleeeease?"

Fred smiled at her.

"Alright then," He said, turning the car around and lowering it to the ground according to her directions.

"No! You have to land on the right side of the yellow line! The right!" She commanded, nearly climbing on top of Fred and swerving hard to avoid oncoming traffic. Fred watched Celia in shock as she continued to steer. 

"Just control gas and brake and I'll get you there." She told him. Her eyes never leaving the road. "Break a bit I have to turn here. Driving is different in the States."

"Not to mention on the ground." George put in after her.

When they finally arrived, Celia now sitting on Fred's lap in order to park, Celia showed the boys the games, stores, food, and rides. The three of them walked up and down the boardwalk playing random games and getting nothing to show for it. Celia bought the twins fried dough, and an iced tea for herself from one of the food stands. 

"What is this stuff?" George asked looking cautiously at the food. Celia laughed. 

"It's dough and powdered sugar, don't worry it's not a trick. It's muggle food." She added, breaking off a bit and sticking it in her mouth. Seeing Celia eat it, George deemed it safe and the two both began eating. Soon, powdered sugar covered their clothes and faces. Celia laughed. 

"I guess I should have warned you about that." she said still giggling.

"Oh, you think this is funny do you?" Fred asked looking at her connivingly. Celia looked from Fred to the plate of powered sugar and back. Suddenly she got very nervous. 

"No wait!" She protested backing away. 

"Oh no you don't! Get back here!" Fred yelled playfully gathering powered sugar into his hands. 

In a matter of seconds, Fred was carrying a very white Celia back down the boardwalk. George had begun to laugh so hard that he had fallen into the remaining sugar in the plate. When the three had removed as much powdered sugar as they could, and the iced tea was passed around, they arrived in front of the ride Celia had seen from the car. Fred grabbed Celia's arm as she was heading up the stairs. 

"What are we doing?" Celia jut grinned at him.

"If I tell you, it would spoil the fun; you'll just have to trust me." Fred and George saw her eyes sparkle mischievously, "If you wanna know what this is, you'll just have to follow me and find out!" She told them freeing herself from Fred's grasp and running up the stairs. Fred looked from George, to the stairs where she had been standing, and back. George nodded.

"Hey Celia! Wait up!" George yelled, as the twins ran up after her. When they caught up to her, she handed them both a ticket and they followed her inside. 

Inside the building, the three were put into a log. George climbed into the front, followed by Celia and Fred who sat behind her. 

"It's wet!" George noticed, his hands moving to the metal bars on either side. 

"Of course it is! Don't worry, it's supposed to be." Celia told him. 

"Ok, so what do we do now?" Fred asked.

"Nothing," She answered over her shoulder. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride." The log was floating along the track and Fred and George started enjoying themselves.

"Hey Celia," Fred began, reaching over the side, "I'll help you clean some of that sugar off." He joked making as though to splash her. 

"Heh" She smirked, "Oh I wouldn't worry about that." She told him. As if on cue, the log was suddenly jerked out of the water and they began climbing a slope. Celia lost her grip and slid back into Fred who caught her, on instinct, around the waist. Celia was beaming with excitement. After a small dip, the log went around a turn and suddenly halted to a stop. 

"What's going on?" George asked. Not seeing any more track in front of them.

"Oh they always stop you before a drop." 

"A what?" Fred's hold on her tightened slightly, again as though from instinct. 

"You might want to hold on!" Celia told them, doing so herself as the log moved again. All three of them screamed on their way down the 40 foot drop they were descending. 

When they reached the bottom, they caused the water to come up like a Squall. 

"Well, at least we're clean!" George yelled back to them, a huge smile on his face. The three of them laughed. It was true; there was not a speck of powdered sugar left on them. 

After a long day of games, rides, and food, the three decided it was time to leave at last for Britain. They loaded everything into the car and flew, invisibly, into the night sky. All of them chattering about the days events.


	5. Back to the Burrow

Authors note: I know this chapter is a bit short, but it just seemed like a good place to end the chapter. Please review!!!!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters please don't sue me. Harry Potter is a book by J.K. Rowling and she owns everything but Celia, Pegasus, and the Legend. Please don't sue me! Thank you! Now on to Chapter 5!!

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Chapter 5 : Back to the Burrow.

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After a long night flying, they had all taken turns flying and sleeping. (They taught Celia how to do it around 4) Fred, George, and Celia finally arrived just outside of Ottery St. Catchpole; they were now only minutes away from the Burrow, where Fred and George lived, and the end of their journey.

"Hey, isn't that Hermione's car?" George asked pointing below them. Fred nodded.

"Yeah, I think it is." Fred answered exchanging a look with his brother. 

"Uh-oh, that is never a good sign." Celia commented looking at the two of them. "Who's Hermione?" She asked them. 

"She's a friend of out brothers. I think we should give her a little scare." George answered, he and Fred smirking. Celia, knowing the twins well enough to know what was coming, sat back and held onto the seat. Again, as if working through the same brain, George lowered the car so that it was right next to the passenger side of Hermione's car and Fred hit the invisibility off. Hermione, who was looking out the window, nearly hit her head on the roof when she saw them appear out of thin air. Celia couldn't help but laugh at the expression on the girl's face.

Soon, they had arrived at the house and everyone was outside to meet them. Celia looked at the crowd of people standing in front of her. Five of them had red hair just like Fred and George's; she took them to be the rest of the Weasleys. Another boy had black hair, that seemed to be uncontrollable, and then there was Hermione, standing in front of her parents.

"Hi," she began quietly, feeling self-conscious. "My name is Celia, Celia Alanus. Thank you so much for letting me stay here with you." 

"Hello Celia, I'm Molly Weasley, Fred and George's mother, this is my husband Arthur."

"Nice to meet you." Celia said, shaking his hand.

"Likewise!" Mr. Weasley told her. There was no being shy around these people, they were entirely too friendly to feel self-conscious for long. 

"The red-haired ones are mine," Mrs. Weasley was saying. "This is Percy, and Ron, he's a bit younger than you I imagine. And this is my youngest, Ginny." Celia jumped inside at seeing Ginny. She still couldn't believe that this was all a coincidence. She smiled as she shook Ginny's hand.

"Thanks for sending my letter, I really appreciate it." Ginny smiled back at her. 

"It was no trouble at all, really." Ginny answered, proud. The next to meet was Hermione. 

"I just came back from the States myself." Hermione told her. "It's quite a bit different here, isn't it?" Hermione asked rhetorically. 

"I certainly hope so." Celia answered. Hermione studied her for a moment. She could tell that there was more meaning to this statement, but she decided that it would be prying for her to ask.

Finally, there was only the black-haired boy to meet. She assumed, remembering her uncle's letter that this was Harry.

"Hello," the boy began, extending his hand to her. "I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Celia took his hand and shook it. It seemed like everyone was waiting for her to react for some reason.

"Hello Harry, nice to meet you." She responded politely. Harry seemed to brighten up after that was all she said, but she couldn't think of why.

"So, how was your trip?" Mrs. Weasley asked the three of them. Celia, Fred, and George looked at one another and smiled.

"It was fine." Celia answered generically.

"Year, we spent some time where she was, ate muggle food." Fred began, knowing how his father would react.

"Played muggle games," George continued. "Spent muggle money."

"Went on rides." They all said together. Mr. Weasley looked as though he couldn't contain himself.

"Did you really?" He asked excitedly, heading toward Celia. He put his arm around her and began leading her into the house.

"You must tell me everything about it-" He was saying when he was interrupted by a strange chirping.

"What is that?" Ginny asked, looking around.

"Oh my gosh! Pegasus!" Celia ran to the car and opened the back door. "I am so sorry Pegasus!" The phowl flew out of the car and circled around her once, finally landing on her shoulder. She reached up to her beak and patted her gently. The crowd of people, save Fred and George, seemed somewhat mystified by actually seeing a phowl. Celia noticed this and sent Pegasus to the twins for them to show her off. She then reached back into the car for the real surprise. 

Walking back towards the group, Pegasus, who was now with Ron, flew back to her arm, and she pushed the bird back onto her shoulder. Harry and Ron's jaws dropped when they saw what she had.

"You! You! That! It's!" Ron stuttered, unable to get his sentence out. Harry also gave it a go.

"Broom, new…fast" But he too was unsuccessful. Fred and George both began to laugh.

"What they mean to say," Hermione began, "Is that your broom is the fastest model and they can't believe you've got one." She translated. Celia laughed at the gaping boys.

"I feel kind of bad though," Celia explained as they headed into the house. "I mean, I don't even know how to fly it, it doesn't seem fair that I should have one."

"Do you think I could - I mean, would you mind if I had a go?" Ron asked staring at the broom. Celia watched him.

"I'll make you a deal." She told him. "You teach me how to fly it, and fly it well, and I'll let you use it whenever I'm not." Ron gaped at her.

"You really mean it?" he asked looking like he was about to explode with joy. Celia smiled. "I can't believe it! You hear that Harry? I get to ride the new Hermes! Celia I'll make you the best flyer there ever was!" He told her, catching up with Harry and Hermione. Fred grabbed Celia's elbow and pulled her behind the others.

"Ok, so spill it, what's with the shy act?" George asked her. "I get turned into a canary and they get 'Hello'" George put his head down mimicking her. If he had been trying to tease her he had made a grave mistake, at the very mention of the canary incident, both Fred and Celia began trying to suppress their laughter at remembering George's transformation. George stood waiting for them to sober.

"Yeah, yeah, good have a nice laugh about it." George said, unenthusiastically. Celia put her hand on his arm looking like she was trying to hold herself up.

"Don't worry." She managed between giggles "We…will!" She finished, making George laugh at the pair of them trying not to laugh.

"Oh shut up!" He tried, unable to hold back any further laughter. Celia looked at both the twins, and at the people she'd be staying with. Her uncle was right; they were exactly what she needed.


	6. Getting to Know the Weasleys

Authors note: Hey everyone! How do you like my story so far? I realize it's been a bit slow going, but I promise that it will speed up soon! I would really appreciate your input! Please review! Now for the always present Disclaimer…I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters or places from the book. All original things are mine. I don't intend on making any money from this and it is not likely that I would anyway…please don't sue. That being said, on with the story!

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Chapter 6 : Getting to Know the Weasleys

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Celia spent the next week getting to know the Weasleys and Harry and Hermione. Owls had been sent the first day to Dumbledore and Celia's parents to inform them that she had arrived safely. They had eaten what was left of the famous pudding for dessert, and all the stories of the past few days had been told. The next day, Ron began to teach Celia how to fly her broom. As it turned out, she didn't need much teaching. The second she had mounted the broom, she felt a weightlessness about her. With the slightest push, she was lifted off the ground and made her way to Harry who was already in the air, waiting for her on his Firebolt. 

'Flying!' She thought. It felt amazing, she darted around, flying in circles above the ground and swerved in all directions. The Hermes seemed to respond to her thought rather than touch. It moved as though it was an extension of her body. When she reached Harry he was amazed. 

"It looks like we won't have to teach you much," He told her. "You're a natural."

"Thanks." She said. "What kind of broom is that?" She asked him looking at his handle.

"A Firebolt." he answered "Not as good as yours, but close."

"I think it looks pretty cool." She said. Harry brightened. 

"Are you going to try out for the house team?" Celia didn't understand.

"House team? Team of what?" Harry very nearly went into shock.

"Ron!" He yelled down to him "Get your brothers and get Oliver's old broom! She doesn't know what Quidditch is!" Celia could see the expression on Ron's face even from all the way up in the air.

"I assume that's a bad thing?" Celia asked smiling at the way Ron ran towards the house, as though in a state of emergency. "What's quidditch?"

"It's a wizard game, I figured Fred and George would have mentioned it, they're beaters on the Gryffindor team. I'm seeker." He could see that Celia needed it from the beginning.

"Ok, lets see…I suppose you might say it's a cross between dodgeball, football and capture the flag." Harry thought that was a good start. "There are 3 kinds of balls," Harry went on. "One big red one, called a quaffle, 2 smaller ones called bludgers, and a little gold one called the snitch. Are you with me so far?"

"Red quaffle, 2 bludgers, golden snitch, got it. How do you play?"

"Well, you play on broomsticks, in the air." Celia's face lit up. "There are 7 players on a team. Three Chasers, Two Beaters, One Keeper, and a Seeker." Celia nodded and Harry went on. "You play on a quidditch pitch. It's kind of like a football field except instead of goals on either side there are 3 hoops." Celia nodded again.

"Okay, I have it so far." She confirmed.

"Good. So, the chasers try to get the quaffle through one of the other team's hoops. A goal is worth 10 points. The keeper defends the hoops."

"What do the beaters do?" Celia asked.

"Well, first you'd have to know about the bludgers." Harry told her. "The two bludgers fly around trying to hit the players off their brooms, and trust me, they hurt." Harry said suddenly holding his arm.

"Were you hit?" 

"Yeah, a rogue bludger smashed my arm into bits in my second year when I was reaching for the snitch." Harry remembered wincing. "I still got the snitch though." He finished showing off. 

"What's a rogue bludger?"

"It's a bludger that follows a specific player around and tries to knock them off their broom. It doesn't happen unless someone tampers with them. Don't worry though," He added in hurriedly, seeing the shocked look on Celia's face. "Madame Hooch has kept all the Quidditch balls locked up in her office ever since I got hurt." She stared at him wide-eyed.

"So," She began after a minute. "then, the beaters have something to do with the bludgers right?" She asked, trying to stop from thinking of herself being knocked off her broom.

"That's right," Harry answered. "It's the beaters' job to protect the rest of the team from bludgers. They chase after them and hit them towards the other team, or just away from their own team, with clubs."

"And I'd say we do a pretty good job of it too!" Fred boasted flying up with Ron and George, to join them. All three could fly very well. 

"Oh really?" Celia teased "If you're so great then where were you when Harry's arm got smashed up?" Celia finished effectively popping his brag-bubble. 

"So how's the flying lesson going?" Fred asked quickly, a guilty smirk on his face. Celia laughed.

"Fine," She answered.

"She's a natural," Harry elaborated. "I hope she gets Gryffindor, it'd be a job playing against a Hermes." Harry didn't mention her playing for the team. There was only one spot open since Wood left, and he knew for a fact that Ron was going to try for it.

"What do you mean?" Celia was asking.

"Everyone at Hogwarts lives in a house. In your first year, you have to be sorted. They have this big old hat that they put on your head and it decided on what house you should be in depending on what's in your head; your personality and the like." Harry explained.

"Everyone here is in Gryffindor, Hermione and Ginny are too. So were my brothers and parents." Ron told her.

"Wow, I hope I get into Gryffindor! I don't want to be alone!"

"Don't worry," Harry told her, "Something tells me you will be." Celia smiled at his comment. 

"What other houses are there?" Celia asked. "What exactly do you mean by house anyway?"

"There are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." George told her. "And your house is really just the dorm you'll be staying with, but you have classes with your house. You really stay with them a lot, so you should make friends with them. Whatever you do though, don't get Slytherin. They're all a bunch of sneaks." He finished.

"All of them? You can't be sure they're all bad." Celia protested. George shrugged.

"Haven't met one that wasn't yet." He told her "You can see for yourself when you get there, still I'd be careful is all, they can be really rotten." Celia accepted this and nodded, making a mental note to watch herself. 

"So, we gonna play or what?" Ron asked. 

"But how can we?" Celia asked, "We only have the 5 of us, we're two short, and we have no one to play against. Not to mention that there's no pitch." She stated remembering all that Harry had taught her. 

"Wow, you do learn fast!" Ron said surprised. 

"Nice job Harry." Fred complimented.

"Thanks." Harry said smiling. "Well I guess we can just play around a bit," He added turning to the twins and Ron. "Did you bring the balls out?" Fred pointed down. Hermione and Ginny were standing around a chest waiting to start. Ginny had found an old broom of someone's inside, and had brought it out as well.

"Wait!" Celia remembered suddenly. "You didn't tell me about the snitch! What does the seeker do?" 

"What? Harry I thought that'd be the first thing you'd tell her!" Ron exclaimed shocked. "The seeker tries to catch the snitch. It flies around and it's fast. The seeker who catches it first gets 150 points to their team and ends the game. In the pros, a game can go on for months, and depending on the score, the snitch doesn't always bring a win, but in school, games don't usually get that long, and no one usually scores that many points." Celia understood now and really wanted to begin playing. Hermione had given the twins, who flew down to her, their clubs, and she and Ginny released the bludgers and the snitch. As soon as they threw the quaffle up into the air, Celia grabbed it and the bludgers began chasing victims. They played all day, alternating players and brooms so that everyone could have a go on the Hermes. Celia had never had more fun in her life. Every so often they would all switch positions and try something else. Celia liked being a chaser most of all. She wasn't bad either. Of course having the Hermes didn't hurt, but even on George's Cleansweep she wasn't half bad. She watched Ginny and Harry compete for the snitch a bit. She was no match for him, it was easy to see that, but that was with Harry on the Hermes and Ginny on Ron's Cleansweep 11. Celia flew over to Ron, who was on Harry's Firebolt and asked him a favor. 

"Hey, Ron, I'm curious about something, can you go switch brooms with your sister?"

"Yeah sure, what for?" 

"Just curious." She watched Ron fly over to Ginny and they switched brooms in mid air. Eventually, Ginny and Harry got back to chasing after the snitch, and Celia noticed Ginny's skills had improved greatly. Harry was still a bit ahead of her on following, but Ginny was keeping up for speed now and, Celia noticed, wasn't watching Harry's movements, but she too had her eyes on the snitch. 

The group played a bit more before Mrs. Weasley called them in for dinner. Celia went to sleep that night musing over how it happened that the 7 of them had become such great friends in such a short amount of time. She felt, and was sure that the feeling wasn't entirely one-sided, as though she had known them forever. She drifted off into a wonderful dreamless sleep. And for the first time in a long time, she woke up without a heavy heart.

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Authors note: Hey everyone! Hoped you like it! The next chapter should be up tomorrow or the next day. A preview of what's to come: Celia sets her eyes for the first time on Diagon Alley! And has her first meeting with a Slytherin, Draco Malfoy. Oh I'm sorry, Malfoy, did I injure your pride a bit? That'll teach you to insult MY friends! Coming soon! 

Chapter 7 : Diagon Alley


	7. Diagon Alley

DISCLAIMER: Please see previous chapters and apply that disclaimer to this chapter. 

Please review! And now without further adieu:

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Chapter 7 : Diagon Alley

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By the end of the week, Celia felt completely at ease with all her new friends. On the last day of vacation, a Friday, Fred, George, Celia, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny went with Mr. & Mrs. Weasley to Diagon Alley. Celia had never seen something so amazing in her entire life. The whole alley was filled with witches, wizards, and all sorts of magical beings. Their first stop was Flourish and Blotts to get their books. Celia took out her letter to show the bookkeeper what she would need. 

"Ah, 6th year then, alright, lets see here, you'll be taking Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration 6, Charms 6, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions 6 and History of Magic. It's an expensive lot, have you been to Gringotts yet?

"What's that?" Celia asked her.

"What's that?" The wizard echoed. "And just how do you expect to pay for all this if you've got no money?"

"My uncle said that he would pay for it, and to put it on his tab."

"Who's your uncle then?" He asked.

"Albus Dumbledore." The wizard's eyes suddenly widened.

"So you must be Celia then! Why didn't you say so earlier? I've got a special set of books waiting for you," He exclaimed excitedly going into the back and coming back out with a stack of books. "Your uncle said to put you a year lower, since you're new, for the most part. Here you are then." Celia's eyes widened when she saw the stack of books put in front of her. She didn't know much about how much wizard books cost, but she could imagine that the Weasleys must have trouble with this every year.

"That's all there is then, unless there's something else you want?" The bookkeeper asked her. Celia shook her head, and the wizard magically wrapped up her books so that she could carry them all. 

When everyone had paid for their books, the group left Flourish and Blotts and continued their shopping. The next stop was The Apothecary, where they all bought their potions refills, and Celia picked up her Cauldron and fresh supplies. Outside the store, the group decided to split up. Fred and George went with Celia to get her robes and wand, while Harry, Ron and Hermione headed to the Quidditch supply store. Ginny found a friend from school and they went their own way catching up on each others' summers. Mrs. Weasley told them all to meet her in a couple of hours in the Leaky Cauldron. So once again, Fred, George, and Celia were alone.

"So, what do you think so far? You like being a witch?" George asked, the usual playful tone in his voice. Celia had been wide-eyed and beaming the whole time they were there.

"This is really amazing! Somehow I keep thinking that it isn't true, but it is!" The twins smiled. "It must be pretty normal for you though, seeing it everyday." She seemed somehow sad about this. 

"Well, yeah," said Fred, in an effort to cheer her. "But it's still pretty cool to watch. I mean, you don't start Hogwarts 'till 11, we know some muggle stuff, since dad is well, dad. Before Voldemort, he used to send us to muggle school until we went off to Hogwarts. George and I went until we were 7, we got a week or so into 2nd grade, then mum said it was too dangerous, for us and the muggles, so we stopped." Fred looked at Celia, she had been listening intently. "If you're thinking that you'll be the only one impressed by what you see, think again. No matter what you're used to, magic is magic, to everyone." Celia smiled. That had been along the lines of what she was thinking. The three reached Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions, and went inside to get Celia measured for her robes.

"Hello there, how can I help you three today?" The lady behind the corner asked. 

"I need to get robes for school." Celia told her, and added, "My uncle is Albus Dumbledore, he's paying for it." when she saw the skeptical look on her face. Comprehension replaced it now. 

"Oh! You're Celia! It wasn't the money dear; it's just that usually you would have your school robes by this age. It makes sense now, up you go." Madam Malkin led her to the side, where she was told to stand on a pedestal while a measuring tape took measurements on its own. Celia watched it in amazement.

When her measurements were complete, Madam Malkin told them to come back in a while to get the finished robe, and the three were on their way again.

"Where to now?" Celia asked looking around madly at the different shops, and taking her books back from Fred who had been holding them while she was being measured.

"Well look at that!" said an all-too-familiar voice to Fred and George. "Weasley's got a girlfriend has he?" The three turned around to see a rich-looking boy with pale skin and blond hair. His icy blue eyes widened as they faced him, Fred glanced from Malfoy to Celia and placed an arm around her protectively.

"Yeah what of it Malfoy?" Both the boy and Celia were surprised at hearing this but Celia quickly played along. Putting her arm around Fred, she addressed Malfoy. 

"Who are you?" 

Malfoy who was staring at the two of them suddenly became somewhat aware of his surroundings.

"Malfoy," He answered. "Draco Malfoy." Celia looked him over. He looked as though someone had thoroughly gone into his brain and removed his ability to be snide.

"Celia Alanus." She replied coolly, "Nice to meet you." She finished. There was a strange silence in the air. Apparently, Draco had forgotten whatever insult he was going to make. Cleary he was not counting on the girl actually being Fred's girlfriend.

"Right." Malfoy said finally, regaining speech. "See you in school." Celia nodded her hear once and he left. Once he was out of earshot the three of them broke down into hysterics.

"What was that all about?" Celia asked, laughing into Fred's arm which was still loosely around her waist. 

"Draco Malfoy," Fred told her. "In your year I'm afraid. Sorry about that. He's kind of a rich git who thinks he's better than the world."

"Bloody brilliant!" George praised through laughs. "Did you see his face? Hell, I almost believed it!" Celia laughed, she had to admit his face was classic when he saw her put her arm around Fred.

"I wasn't sure it would work, nice playing though Cel." Celia smiled. It felt good to be part of a group again.

The last stop was Ollivander's for her wand. This was the place she was most looking forward to. Inside, there were shelves and shelves of rectangular boxes. The man inside was old-looking, but nowhere near-death. 

"Hello." Celia greeted. The man came closer to her.

"Ah!" He said after a minute. "Miss. Alanus, your uncle told me about you. It's a pleasure, I am Mr. Ollivander." The wizard took her hand in a greeting. 

"It's nice to meet you sir." She replied. Mr. Ollivander looked up.

"Hello boys," He greeted Fred and George. "Taking good care of her?" The two nodded, still smiling from the Malfoy incident. "Haven't turned you into anything have you?" He asked her. Celia laughed & smiled. 

"They tried; George was molting canary feathers all the way back to my house." This set Fred snickering, George muttering to himself and Mr. Ollivander let out a great

"Ha! It seems you've got yourselves a challenge with this one haven't you boys?" Mr. Ollivander said somewhat impressed. "Now then, your wand." He began walking towards the shelves. Celia beamed and followed him. 5 wands, 3 broken vases, one destroyed shelf, and a lopsided door later Mr. Ollivander cautiously handed Celia another wand. This wand was rosewood, 10 ½ inches and had a core of unicorn mane. Celia lifted the wand and nothing happened. Hesitantly, Celia gave the wand a slight wave. A beam of light shot out from the tip and shined on a box in the very back of the store. As if acting on its own, the box rose in the air and hovered. All four of them stared at the box in shock.

"In all my life," Mr. Ollivander began, shocking them all out of their stares. "I have never seen that happen." Celia's eyes met his, and he went to retrieve the box. As soon as he touched it the light was gone and Celia returned the wand to its box. 

"This wand," Mr. Ollivander began. "Has been in this store for as long as I have. " He told them, taking it out of the box. "I have not made any other like it. And it hasn't chosen a witch or wizard yet." He handed it to her. "10 and ¼ inch, rosewood, and inside, is the feather of a very rare animal called a Pegasus." Celia gasped, Fred and George's eyes widened. "The last of the Pegasus are believed to have died out years ago. They were the purest of creatures, second only to their brothers, the unicorns, and by far were the most mystical." Celia took the wand and a great warmth rushed through her. She felt a wick build up around her and then, just as suddenly as it came, die down again. For a while it was quiet, then Celia spoke up.

"I think I'll take this one." She said, amazed. Mr. Ollivander stared at the wand, then looked up at Celia and nodded.

"I'd say there's not a choice in the matter." He told her. 

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Authors note: WOW I finished this chapter a lot earlier than I thought I would so I could get it up for you really quickly! Well let me know what you think! I am trying not to have too many Cliffhangers in here but there might be some eventually. Please review everyone!

Next Chapter: Time to board the Hogwarts Express! Finally Celia is off to Hogwarts with the rest of the gang! There's a new sorting hat song, and of course a few surprises. "What's a dementor?" Coming soon in Chapter 8:

Aboard the Hogwarts Express!


	8. Aboard the Hogwarts Express

Disclaimer: Please see all the previous chapters for the Disclaimer and please note that it will disappear for a while as it is written in the summary and all over the last chapters…that being said on with Chapter 8! 

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Chapter 8 : Aboard the Hogwarts Express

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Two days later, it was time to go to King's Cross Station to board the Hogwarts Express.

"Are we seriously getting to Hogwarts on a plain old normal train?" Celia asked.

"Of course not! No normal trains go to Hogwarts, but we get on the Hogwarts Express from this station." Hermione told her. "We have to go to Platform 9 ¾."

"Oh." Celia said, and then what Hermione had told her registered. "What? Platform 9 ¾? There's no such thing! Is there?" Ron nudged Harry with his elbow.

"Sound familiar?" He asked, a smirk on his face. Harry shoved him.

"Shut up!" He said, laughing. Celia was still confused.

"They had to hide it so some muggle didn't stumble aboard wondering what was going on." George explained. "Trust me, you'll get it soon enough." He finished with a smirk.

"Right." Celia said, not sure if she liked the idea of George smirking. 'I guess I'll just go with it.' She thought to herself.

Inside, Mrs. Weasley led them to the wall separating platforms 9 and 10.

"Alright Arthur, why don't you go first and make sure it's safe." Mr. Weasley nodded and walked to the wall. Leaning on it, he looked around him quickly to be sure no one would see and then quickly went through. Celia's eyes went wide. Suddenly, his hand came back through, gave a thumbs up, and then vanished again. Celia went into shock. She grabbed Fred's arm. 

"We have to go through the _wall_?" she asked in a loud whisper. 

"It's the only way onto the platform." He told her.

"I - but- uh." Celia gaped.

"Ok Fred, George, you next." Mrs. Weasley ordered. Fred and George took the wall at a run, and they were gone.

"Alright! Celia, Ron," Celia lined up next to Ron in front of the barrier. "Ok, now, all you do is go straight through the wall. Do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous." Celia nodded a bit unsure of herself. She could just see herself ramming into the wall and making a big scene. Ron put his hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him. 

"Don't worry; you don't even have to pay attention, just run." Celia smiled at him, less nervous this time. They both grabbed their trolleys and looked around to make sure no one was watching. 

"Ok," Ron said. "Go." They both took off at a run and went right through the barrier. Celia opened her eyes and looked around. Above her was a sign that read 'Platform 9 ¾.' Suddenly, it struck her as funny. Harry and Hermione appeared behind them, followed by Ginny and Mrs. Weasley

"Ok!" Mrs. Weasley began "Lets see if we can find a compartment." Before she had even finished Fred & George were leading the way to the back of the train. Near the very end they found a compartment big enough for them all. Fred, George, Celia, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny put their trunks overhead and went back out to say goodbye.

At exactly 11:00, the train made its last call and the group of them bid farewell to Mr. & Mrs. Weasley.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done for me." Celia thanked them.

"Oh! Not at all dear!" Mrs. Weasley told her. "Glad to have you! You have fun now!" She said. Celia smiled and gave both Mr. & Mrs. Weasley a hug before getting on the train. As the train pulled out, the 7 of them settled down in their seats to talk. 

Celia sat in the seat by the window across from Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Ron. Fred and George both took the seats next to her.

"So," started Hermione, "What do you think so far of the wizarding world?" She asked Celia. "It's really nothing like the muggle world is it?" She added.

"No, nothing," Celia answered. "It's really amazing! I had no idea wizards were real! I always thought it was all just a fairy tale!" Hermione and Harry smiled. They knew exactly what she meant, Hermione being muggle-born, and Harry muggle-raised.

"So, tell me about Hogwarts." Celia asked them. "What are the classes like? Where do we sleep? How's the food?" At the mention of food, all three Weasley boys moaned with longing. Celia laughed and the 7 of them told stories and played games the whole ride. About halfway to Hogwarts, the twins' friend Lee Jordan joined them, and shortly after, a boy named Neville Longbottom came in with his toad Trevor. When the food trolley came by, Harry and Celia bought some of everything on it and Lee laughed when Celia got a dirt-flavored Bertie Botts Every-Flavor Bean.

After what seemed like not nearly enough time, the train was slowing and they were changing out of their muggle clothes and into their wizard robes. When they stepped off the train, Celia followed the others to where there were carriages that were standing all alone. Some of the carriages up in front that were loaded were even moving. 

"The carriages are moving on their own!" Celia exclaimed excitedly. She was in complete amazement. The castle was beautiful and the grounds were amazing. On the way up to the castle, she looked out the window at the grounds and tried to imagine the look on everyone's face at home when they saw she wasn't in school.

'They'll probably think something's happened to me.' She thought. 'I wonder if they'll care, I hope they feel horrible and think that it was their fault! Then they'll see how much they hurt me!' She thought forcefully, her eyes tearing. Celia fought back the tears. 'No way! I don't want to bring that here! If they ask what's wrong they'll know and they'll feel sorry for me and treat me differently!' Celia felt her eyes and made as though she was yawning. Clamping her eyes shut, she rubbed them determined to wipe away the traces of tears. She looked around the carriage to make sure no one had seen her cry. Fred & George were talking to themselves, as were Harry and Ron. Hermione was watching their conversation almost too intently, but no one gave any clue that they had seen her cry. Content with the state of things, she went back to her thoughts. 

'That was a horrible thing to think! I shouldn't be wishing ill on them!' She berated herself. Not wanting to think about it anymore as her emotions were making her tired, she turned toward the others in the carriage. 'They are all so nice.' She thought, looking around at them. Her eyes settled on Fred. She could still picture the scene in Diagon Alley from a few days ago. He had so casually put his arm around her. She had to admit that the thought of being his girlfriend didn't bother her much. As she thought about it she realized that the thought of dating George or Lee didn't bother her either. They had all accepted her straight off. That was what it was, the kindness they had already shown her, she had forgotten what it really felt like. It was somehow different when a guy was kind to you than when a girl was. 'Strange how easily the heart can love.' She thought to herself. Suddenly a great rush of terror swept through her, and she felt a chill on her back. 'No!' She thought. 'It hurt too much! I can't let that happen again! Never!' Celia had only just realized that the carriage had stopped, and she heard what sounded like the wind rasping outside. Suddenly, all the bad memories of last year attacked her all at once and she grabbed her head. She was faintly aware of shouting and saw something silver burst out of somewhere before everything went black.

She woke up with the awareness that someone was holding her hand. They were calling her name. There were people in the room.

"Ah Celia, you've awaken I see." She opened her eyes and smiled. Her uncle was looking down at her holding her hand. Fred, George, Hermione, Ron and Harry were also in the room.

"Uncle Albus!" She sat up to give him a hug. Her uncle smiled and hugged her back.

"It's wonderful to see you child. You've grown into a lovely young woman since I saw you last. I trust your trip here went well?" At this he raised his eyebrows at the twins. They smiled somewhat guiltily. 

"We didn't do a thing!" George defended unoffended.

"George tried." Celia tattled teasingly.

"Yeah but it backfired." Fred joked, looking at ease; Dumbledore had been watching the exchange with growing amusement. 

"He was molting canary feathers all the way back to my house." Celia finished hardly able to keep a straight face.

"Ah! I knew you'd be a good match." The three of them laughed. There was silence for a minute, which was broken by Hermione. 

"Celia, are you ok?" She asked apprehensively

"Yes, well, I mean, what happened?"

"Dementors." Ron stated bluntly. "Nasty things; suck the happiness from you." He added.

"Harry got rid of them with his patronus." Hermione told her

"But you'd already passed out." Harry finished.

"How did I get here?"

"Carried you." Fred told her

"I don't understand why there are dementors here again though." George stated, looking to Dumbledore. He looked them over and then exhaled.

"The Dementors were accompanying Cornelius Fudge."

"The Minister? Why was he here?"

"He came to make sure I was in agreement not to tell the students about Voldemort's return."

"_Not _tell us?" Harry echoed. "But he _is_ back!" 

"Ah, yes, well I have learned that the best way to deal with Fudge is to let him believe what he wants." Dumbledore explained with a twinkle in his eye. "Now, I believe it is time to start our year. Celia, if you would stand, this is one of those things you shouldn't miss." With that, Dumbledore backed away from the bed in the hospital wing, and headed for the door. Celia moved to get out of bed.

"I'd eat the chocolate if I were you," Harry said, indicating the bar of chocolate that was on the bedside table. "I used to pass out too. The chocolate will warm you up, I promise." Celia smiled and opened the chocolate. As Harry had promised, the first bite warmed her considerably from inside out. When she finished the chocolate, she was ready to head down to dinner. Stumbling a bit, she held on to Fred and George, who had appeared at her side for support, and the 7 of them followed Dumbledore down to the Great Hall.

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Author's note: There see? I told you it would speed up! The next couple of chapters should be coming directly following this one. They are typed up, they just need to be edited. Everyone let me know what you think so far ok? Please review!!

A glimpse of what's to come : Chapter 9 -- There's a new sorting hat song and Celia is sorted. Not to mention the gossip that is going around about Fred and Celia's little stunt in Diagon Alley. Aw go on! Give them all something new to talk about…yeah, that works…Next time in Chapter 9 : The Start of Another Year. Coming Soon!


	9. The Start of Another Year

Author's note: I got reviews!!!!! Thank you so much to Saffarii-phoenix and David M. Potter for your reviews!!!! And don't worry Saffarii; another interesting character will be making her debut in a few chapters. I will try to get the next chapter up very soon and thanks again for your reviews!! And now I proudly present :

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Chapter 9 : The Start of Another Year

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When they entered the great hall, there was a great amount of noise coming from the conversations going on all around the room. By the time Celia and the others had arrived, Dumbledore was already up at the teacher's table at the head of all the other tables. Celia looked all around the great hall. It was amazing. She never thought she would be living and going to school in a castle, let alone a magical one. Above her, candles floated in mid air and above that, all she saw was the night sky.

"There's no roof!" She exclaimed looking up wildly.

"There's a roof." Hermione explained. "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside." Celia listened while gazing up. 

"It's really great when there's a storm." Ron added from in front of her. "I imagine you'll have to be sorted now with the first years." He told her. "Do you think you can stand?" Celia took a few weak steps and stumbled a bit, but she caught herself and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be alright, where do I have to go?"

"Just stand with that group of first years that's up there waiting." Ron told her. "We've got to head over to the Gryffindor table. Good luck Celia, I hope you get Gryffindor!" 

The 5 of them headed to the table and sat down. Fred and George sat down next to Lee, who looked around a bit, then turned to her and yelled,

"Oi! We'll save a seat for you then!" He flashed her a large grin which she returned before turning to go join the first years to be sorted. A young girl about half her height addressed her. 

"Are you the new girl that's dating Fred Weasley?" Celia had trouble hiding her surprise. 'Do things really get around that fast?' She thought.

"Where did you hear that?" Celia asked, trying not to give anything away. 

"My big sister told me, she's in Slytherin. She says a boy named Draco Malfoy was fuming about it. I don't think you can be her though. My sister says she must be pretty ugly if she's going out with a Weasley, and I don't think you're ugly at all."

"Well, thank you!" Celia said genuinely, happy now that she didn't have to answer the question. 'I am definitely going to have a laugh about this later with Fred and George. I bet they've told Lee too.' She thought to herself.

At that moment, the elderly witch whom Celia had seen seated next to her uncle was standing in front of them holding a roll or parchment and asking for their attention. Behind her was a stool which held an old ratty pointed hat.

"May I have your attention please? It's time for our first years to be sorted, but before that we have a 5th year transfer student who must also be sorted. Now, while you're here, your house will be like your family…" Celia's eyes wandered to the Gryffindor table, the word family rang in her ears. As the witch, who Celia learned was Professor McGonagall, told them about how to gain points for their house, Celia prayed desperately that she would be in Gryffindor.

They were waiting now. Professor McGonagall had stepped aside and was watching the hat. As Celia turned toward it, the hat came to life and burst into song:

__

In the time when wizards freely roamed,

There was a group, who for a child they combed,

For in that time, there was a threat, a threat to all mankind,

And in this child, for whom they searched, 

The strength to save them they would find.

At this point in the song, Celia noticed that most of the people in the room had turned to look at the Gryffindor table. Looking over to see what had happened, she saw the Gryffindors were now looking at Harry and Harry had a look of surprise on his face. Celia wondered why it was that he was now the center of attention.

__

Throughout the years, they searched the land, 

Led by Godric's son,

Though to this day, no child was found, 

And darkness still is at hand.

But do not fret, for legend holds for us this bit of hope;

When at last, the child is found, the Aude Arlene returns.

And on that day the world will know, 

That when near love, hate burns.

The song had ended and there was applause throughout the hall. Celia thought about what the hat had said. Somehow, the song seemed to have more meaning than what it was on the surface. Professor McGonagall was talking again.

"Now, when I call your name, I want you to come up and sit on the stool, and then I will place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted. Celia looked again at the Gryffindor table where all her friends were smiling at her. She could see the gap across from the twins where they were saving her a seat.

"Alanus, Celia!"

Celia heard her name being called and approached Professor McGonagall still praying for Gryffindor. As she sat on the stool, Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head. All of a sudden, she heard a voice in her head.

"Well, lets see, where should we put you?

"Are you? You're the sorting hat?" Celia thought to the hat.

"That is correct." It said to her. Celia sat in shock. She was just spoken to by a hat. Recovering from her shock she began thinking to it.

"Can I ask, what was that legend? The one you were telling about in your song?" There was a long silence before the hat spoke again. 

"In all my years at Hogwarts, never has a student thought to ask about my song." Celia waited. "If you want to know more about the legend, it would be wise of you to ask the oldest teacher at Hogwarts. He almost definitely will know all about The Legend of Alana." Celia took this in.

"The Legend of Alana, thank you." she thought.

"Now then!" The hat said. "Where to put you…"

"Oh Please! Please put me in Gryffindor!" The hat seemed to laugh.

"You don't know how often I am getting that these days." The hat told her. "You realize that you are more suited for Ravenclaw." Celia almost cried. "Relax girl I haven't decided yet. You realize that your house will be where you live for the next 2 years; this decision is not to be made lightly. Think now." Celia thought back to the description of Ravenclaw that she had been told. She always was a deep thinker, perhaps she would fit in better in Ravenclaw, but something in her heart told her to go to Gryffindor.

"Hang on, what was that?" The hat was saying. Celia wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that she wanted to be in Gryffindor.

"I-I don't know why, I would be suited better for Ravenclaw, but my heart is telling me that I should go to Gryffindor. It may be a mistake, but I can live with it. I know I would regret not being in Gryffindor." Celia was so sure, that all her doubt disappeared.

"You listen to your heart before your mind?" The hat asked.

"And after," Celia answered. "I am willing to follow my heart on this, even if it makes no sense." The hat pondered this.

"In that case, it is in Gryffindor that you truly belong." Celia smiled as the sorting hat bellowed "GRYFFINDOR!" for the entire hall to hear. As the hat was lifted from her head, she heard the Gryffindor table explode with cheering. Fred, George and Lee were standing, as were Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny. Celia ran beaming to the Gryffindor table. On her way, she noticed the girl whose sister was in Slytherin and glanced up to see Malfoy scowling. Smirking to herself she ran up to Fred and threw her arms around him whispering, 

"Check out Malfoy's face." to him and the rest of the Gryffindors that were watching. Fred, who had been thoroughly surprised, now hugged her back and glanced at the Slytherin table. The look on Malfoy's face was one of utter shock that sent the table into hysterics. The commotion had gathered the attention of other tables as well as people noticed Fred and Celia as she waved across the hall at Malfoy, who turned red and looked away, sitting noticeably lower in his seat.

Still laughing, Celia crossed to her seat next to Lee, and received a high five from George. She glanced up at her uncle who gave her a questioning look. In an answer to this silent questioning, Celia just shrugged and smiled innocently. Dumbledore smiled back amused and Celia settled in with the rest of the Gryffindors as the sorting continued.

When the sorting was complete, Dumbledore rose to start off the year.

"There is a time, and a place for speeches," He began, "And right now is neither one of them, so without further delay, it is time for the feast to begin!" At Dumbledore's words, the tables in front of them were filled with plates and plates of the most delicious looking food and drink Celia had ever seen.

"Wow, this is amazing!" She glanced at her uncle, who just winked at her. Smiling, she began to eat.

"So, what's the deal with Malfoy?" Hermione asked, Harry, Ron and Ginny also tuning in for the answer. Celia, Fred, and George snorted into their food.

"Well," Celia began, "we were getting my robes from Diagon Alley, and we ran into Malfoy outside." Celia turned to see that all the Gryffindors within earshot had turned to listen.

"So he sees Fred giving me my books back and he starts taunting us."

"Weasley's got a girlfriend?" George mocked. Celia giggled at his impersonation.

"Exactly." She said "So Fred," She continued turning to him.

"I wasn't about to let him get one on me so I grabbed Celia and said 'Yeah what of it?'"  
Turning to Celia he added, "You have no idea how hard I was praying you wouldn't give me up."

"Well, I have to admit, you caught me off-guard." Celia told him. "But I figured you would explain later, so I went with it." She finished.

"She did a good job of it too." George was saying now. "The look on Malfoy's face was classic, the little git was literally speechless."

"Er- well, I'll see you in school." Celia mocked. The group of them laughed. "So anyway, while I was standing up there, this girl asked me if I was the one dating Fred Weasley. She told me that her sister is a Slytherin and told her that Malfoy had made a real stink about it. She said that she thought it couldn't be me because her sister said whoever it was had to be really ugly to be dating you, so when I saw them watching, I couldn't resist making a scene."

"It was worth it." Lee commented.

"Yeah, the look on his face will keep me happy through the dark times to come." Ron declared. Everyone laughed and continued happily eating. Celia was thrilled that she had been put into Gryffindor.

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Author's note: So what did you all think? I hope you enjoyed it! Coming soon in chapter 10 : 5th year is all about growing up, you take the O.W.L.s, you can be made a prefect, and you start to learn little matters about the heart. Next in chapter 10, the start of term notices are made…Is Dumbledore going to hide the truth like Fudge asked? Also, Hermione discovers the truth behind Celia's tears. Coming soon in Chapter 10 : The Time it Takes to Heal. 

See you there! (Please review!!)


	10. The Time It Takes to Heal

Author's note: Hey everyone! Here it is Chapter 10! …Wow, ok that's all I have to say this time…Please review!!!! I would also like to thank the makers of The Harry Potter Lexicon; (  ) for the help that site has given me with names of places and spells. On to Chapter 10!!

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Chapter 10 : The Time It Takes to Heal.

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Dumbledore rose to signify the end of the meal. The room grew quiet and everyone looked up at him waiting. Dumbledore stood smiling at them all, and then he began to speak.

"Ah, the time has finally come for speeches." He began, an amused tone in his voice. "I want to welcome back all our returning students, along with welcoming all of you who are only now joining us." He paused here and looked around at the room full of students. "This year," He began again. "will be different than all the years before." Celia glanced at Harry, who was watching Dumbledore with great interest. Harry, Ron, and Hermione glanced at each other; they were all wondering the same thing. 'Was Dumbledore going to announce the return of Voldemort?'

Celia saw Harry and Ron, glance at Hermione and each other. She could only see Ron's face, it looked serious. She could only imagine that the same look was on the faces of Harry and Hermione as well.

"Of course," Dumbledore was now saying, "Think of how monotonous life would be, if nothing ever changed." 

Celia knew that there was more on her uncle's mind, but for one reason or another, he chose not to share it with the students.

"Now, the start of term notices. All students, please note, that the Forbidden Forest is, as one would think; forbidden. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like me to remind you, that all testing of any magical creations is not to be done on school property. That being said, the use of his cat, Mrs. Norris, for the previously mentioned testing, is also not allowed." Celia was sure she saw her uncle glance in the direction of Fred and George who smiled guiltily, causing Lee to start to laugh.

"And now, it is time for bed. It will be a long day tomorrow." Dumbledore sat down and the hall began to empty.

"First years! This way!" Hermione was yelling. Harry and Ron were staring at her in surprise.

"Hermione? You're a prefect?"

"Don't act so surprised Harry; it's not as big a shock as the other prefect." She said smiling. Harry and Ron looked ahead of the group of first years to see who she meant.

"Gryffindors! This way! Follow me!" Ron and Harry stared at the speaker in utter disbelief. 

"Neville?!" They gaped at her. Hermione smiled.

"Seems all his good Herbology and his knack for _listening_ to the rules counted for something." She explained, sounding out 'listening' slowly for added emphasis. "His Gran's real proud. She gave him loads of spending money for Hogsmeade." Hermione waved at Neville who was waiting at the hall entrance collecting Gryffindors who were waiting to get out. "I think it will be good for him." She said. "I've got to go, see you both up there." She finished, running off to help Neville. Harry and Ron watched almost in shock as the pair of them led the first years up to Gryffindor tower.

The Great Hall was all but empty now. The only people left were Fred, George and Celia, along with Harry and Ron. The three of them were talking to Dumbledore when Harry and Ron went to join them.

"Ah yes! I remember very well the ride you are talking about." Dumbledore was saying. "In my opinion, one of the most enjoyable ways to cool off on a hot day. Better even, than some magical methods I'd say." He had the same playful twinkle in his eyes that Harry had seen in his first year.

"Well, we had better get going." Celia said. "Goodnight, Uncle Albus." She said giving him a hug.

"Goodnight Celia," He returned. "Goodnight boys." He bid the twins. As the three of them left, Harry and Ron lingered a bit.

"Yes Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"I was just wondering sir, I mean, it's just that, I thought you were going to announce that Voldemort had returned." Harry asked, apparently no longer fearing the use of the name.

"Ah," Dumbledore answered. "You see Harry, all things must be done in their own time, this particular event, is no different." Seeing that Harry still had some disputes Dumbledore continued. "Relax Harry, the truth will never be denied for those who ask for it at Hogwarts, but I must ask you to trust my judgment on this matter, as I am in fact, the wiser wizard at this time." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at Harry who nodded and agreed.

"Alright." He said.

"Good. Now, I believe it is time that the two of you should be getting to bed." He told them smiling. Harry nodded and he and Ron went off towards Gryffindor Tower.

"Goodnight!" Ron yelled from the door. Dumbledore responded with a wave, and the boys left the Great Hall. 

"You didn't tell him about the dream." Ron stated in a way that Harry knew was really a question.

"When have I ever told Dumbledore about my dreams?" Harry answered. "Don't worry Ron, you read Sirius's letter, he said to watch them closely -"

"And tell Dumbledore if you keep having the same one!" Ron finished.

"Yeah, and I'm not!"

"You stopped having them?"

"No, but they've changed. Ever since Hermione got to your house she's not even in them."

"She's not? Why didn't you tell me?" Ron had a point.

"I don't know, Celia had arrived, and we got busy, and nothing earth shattering had happened and Hermione was fine, I guess I just never got around to. Sorry, I know you would have wanted to know." Harry explained, hoping Ron wouldn't get mad.

"S'ok, I'm just glad she's safe." Ron said.

"You're glad who's safe?" A voice in front of them said. Looking ahead they saw that it was Celia, standing by the portrait of the Fat Lady which guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron flushed.

"Er- No one, nothing, never mind." Ron stuttered. Celia smiled and let it go. 

"Hermione and Neville had to go to a prefect meeting and Fred and George are working on some new idea." Harry and Ron exchanged glances.

"Okay." Ron said, obviously missing the point. Celia smiled knowingly.

"So I was elected to wait for you guys so I could give you the password." She said turning to face the portrait. Comprehension dawned on the two boys.

"Oh!" Ron said now, "Thanks,"

"No problem. Hey did you know that the lady in the portrait is the great granddaughter of Godric Gryffindor? That's why she's guarding the Gryffindor common room. Brandy Bubbles." She said to the portrait, who nodded and swung open to reveal the hole that led to the common room. 

"That is so much fun!" Celia said going through the hole. "I love having a password." She said, yawning. "Well, I think I am going to go to sleep. See you in the morning!" she called from the stairs.

"'Night!" Harry called, he and Ron settling in the chairs by the fire.

"I don't know why," Ron said, "But I want to make sure she gets back." He finished watching the portrait hole. Harry smiled at him, but kept his thoughts to himself.

"Ron, I told you, she's not in the dreams anymore, she'll be fine."

"But that's just it Harry, you stopped having the dreams when she got to my house. Maybe the only reason she's safe is because we knew where she was. Because she wasn't alone. I mean, maybe if we're around her we can make sure she's safe." Harry just watched him and shook his head.

A short while later Hermione and Neville returned from the prefect meeting. Neville, looking a bit shocked, bid them goodnight, and headed up to the dorm.

"What are you two doing up?" Hermione questioned when he was gone, walking over to where they were sitting. 

"We were just…Harry was, er, see what it is."

"We were talking about what might happen this year." Harry told her, which wasn't a complete lie.

"Yes, I suppose that's a popular topic this year isn't it?" Hermione told them. "They were talking all about it during the meeting; they told us all to be on guard this year. Extra precautions and the like." She explained sitting in one of the chairs across from them. "The teachers reckon there is a good reason why Dumbledore's not telling everyone. They say it would cause a huge panic. But they had to tell the prefects because we need something to drive our precautions."

"Yeah, Dumbledore told us something along the lines of 'it's not time' when we asked him about it." Ron added.

"I imagine the prefects were awfully surprised when they heard, it's a wonder _they_ didn't panic." 

"Oh they did at first, that's what took so long, the teachers wanted to make sure that everyone was calm before they let us go. Malfoy definitely stayed calm enough." She told them.

"Malfoy has been made a school prefect?" Ron asked in obvious distaste.

"Him and Pansy Parkinson." Hermione confirmed, Ron's distaste mirrored in her expression. "She on the other hand, was not so calm about it. In fact she was one of the most concerned about the whole thing. Looked more skittish than Malfoy last year when he got turned into a ferret." she finished, bringing back fond memories to both Harry and Ron.

The three of them stayed up a bit longer talking about everything that could happen in the year ahead before they finally headed off to bed. When Hermione came up to the room Celia was still awake. She looked up when Hermione came in.

"Did you just get back now?" Celia asked her.

"No, Ron and Harry were still in the common room when I got in, we stayed up talking for a bit. Celia threw her a knowing look and smiled.

"What was that?" Hermione asked mocking defensiveness,

"Nothing," Celia said, still grinning. "You just, I don't know, I felt a need to smile." The girls shared a glance and smiled at each other for no particular reason. Now, Hermione was moving around the room getting ready.

"So, what's you're excuse? Why are you up so late?" Hermione asked her. Celia shrugged.

"New…everything." She answered. Hermione nodded and considered her for a moment before speaking up again.

"I had wanted to ask this at first, but I thought it might have been too forward." She hesitated here considering Celia's body movement and continued.

"Of course, if it is still too forward you don't have to answer-"

"What is it?" Celia asked, feeling a bit unsure of the situation.

"Well, it's just, when I first met you, you mentioned that you hoped it was different here than in the states, and, well there are times when you just seem so sad, and I saw you crying in the carriage, but got the impression you didn't want anyone to see you so I kept quiet. But, I was just wondering what it was that happened to you?"

For a while, Celia just looked at the floor, not saying anything. Finally, she looked up.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone about this. I mean really, it stays between us ok?" Hermione nodded in understanding and came over to sit at the end of Celia's four-poster bed. They closed the curtains around them, and Hermione cast an Imperturbable charm on them so that no one would hear what they were saying inside. Celia gathered her thoughts and began to tell her story.

"Well, I guess I should start with my first year of high school. That year I met this guy. One of my girlfriends had a crush on him at the time, I didn't really like him that much, but after a while of hanging out with him, since he and my friend were pretty close, I kind of got used to him and the two of us became closer friends. Somewhere in there, my friend changed and stopped hanging out with us. We were still friends, but she didn't hang out with us as much as she had used to, and it seemed that she no longer had a crush on him either. At this point we had become pretty close and I guess we had this sort of mutual liking of each other. 

"In the beginning of the next year he had asked me out, and I said yes, but then I got scared. He was only my first boyfriend and from what I knew of his previous relationship from things he would tell me, he was a lot more experienced than I was. I got nervous and didn't know what he would expect from the relationship so I told him that I was too afraid that we would lose our friendship and we went back to being friends. 

"By the end of that year, we had become really close; half the school thought that we were dating. I still had some feelings for him, but we weren't going out. That was really the best time I ever had in high school. It was the next year when things started going haywire.

"I heard a rumor from my best friend that he had done some really scummy things to one of her other friends. If it had been anyone else telling me, I wouldn't have believed it. I began to think that he had been lying to me the whole time to try to take advantage of me. I was so hurt and upset I couldn't take it. I started to give him the cold shoulder all the time. During this time, I had gone to my other friend's house and met one of her boyfriend's friends. That's really the turning point of the whole year. I was hurt, and he was nice to me, it was the idea of him that I started to like, and I suppose I related that to him, so the two of us began dating…kind of. At some point while I was dating him I found out that the rumor had been a lie. I felt so bad about what happened, but I was also so relieved that it wasn't true. I had to grovel for a bit for believing those things about him, but the two of us were friends again. I was really happy then." At this point in the story, Celia began to tear. Hermione handed her a tissue from the bedside table and grabbed the box. Then she shut the curtains and made sure the spell was still working. Wiping her nose, Celia continued her story.

"Anyway, after I had broken up with the other guy, the one I met through my other friend, actually almost directly after, my best friend called me to tell me that she liked my friend, this is the one with the rumor now, the one I met in my first year of high school. Now, every time anyone mentioned that they liked him and I thought they had a chance of getting him, I would feel this nervousness, inside me and I would have a renewed interest in him. It wasn't until it was my best friend said it that I really felt the pain in my heart. I hadn't realized until then how I felt about him. How I had always felt about him. I loved him. I told her how I felt about him, and she told me that she wouldn't go out with him. I remember being so happy to have a friend like her. But then I started to notice things. They would do things together…usually in groups, but together, and things that I usually would be included in, but I was never asked to go. Apparently, while I was mad at him over the false rumor that she told me, she was being very nice to him, and that's when he started to like her. I started to hear things from my friends, from her sister, I saw them walking down the hall. I knew something was up. I was right. They had been going out behind my back for a month. All the while telling me that they weren't. I felt so angry, and embarrassed, and worst of all betrayed. I had lost my best friend and my first love…to each other. "Once they found out that I knew, they didn't even bother to pretend anymore. I noticed that he had changed. She had changed him. She took the one I loved and destroyed him. Even now, I can't hate him for what happened. Part of me still loves who he used to be. But I don't think he will ever come back. It's as though he died. And it hurts so much to think about him." Celia paused here to breathe a bit. Her chest had begun to hurt and she had tears in her eyes. 

"I suppose my parents and uncle sensed that something was wrong. I'm glad they did, I wouldn't be able to stand another year around him. It just hurts so much. So, that's why I am here now. Now you know the whole story." Celia finished, breathing deeply to keep from breaking down. Celia considered Hermione. She had been listening intently and now had tears in her eyes. Seeing this Celia too began to tear. She had gotten it out, the whole story. She hadn't been able to tell anyone the story from beginning to end like that before. And now that it was out in the open she felt a surge of relief.

"I had no idea you had gone through anything like that." Hermione told her, her eyes getting wetter every second. There was a brief silence before the girls both burst forward hugging each other. In the comforting motions of her friend, Celia broke down and really cried for the first time. She cried all the tears that she had held back, all the pain and relief and pent up emotion rushing from her body. She could feel it eating up her energy but she didn't want to hold it in anymore, she needed this. For a while, the girls just held each other, crying. When they finally broke apart, Celia felt tired, but the best she had felt in a long time. 

"If you ever need to talk, at all, about anything-" Hermione began, blowing her nose.

"Same here," Celia answered, understanding her meaning. "Anytime." She finished, taking another tissue. Hermione sniffed.

"It's a promise," Hermione offered, holding out her hand. Celia took it, and the two shook.

"A promise." Celia repeated.

It was 12:00, and the girls settled in for some much-needed sleep. Celia knew that she would not simply forget the past. But at least now she was allowing herself the time she needed to heal.

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Author's note: Well look at that! Chapter 10 has come and gone. More is on the way but my updating is going to have to slow down a bit because 10 was the last chapter that I had completed. I will work as fast as I can to get the next chapters up quickly but I don't want to injure the quality of the story. Let me know what you think of the story so far everyone!!! Please review!!!!

A glimpse of what's to come: Chapter 11: Classes Begin. Her first day of classes and she's already she's broken out in boils, learned some fun facts about her new pet and gotten some answers about that pesky legend. Not to mention her first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Is this new professor for real? All this and much more coming soon in Chapter 11: Classes Begin. 

"Five points…are awarded to…Gryffindor house…for a well made potion." 


	11. Classes Begin

Author's note: Well here it is, sorry it took me a while to get this up, but you know how these things go. I apologize for any typos that are in here, I did the best I could to find them all. Well read on! 

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Chapter 11: Classes Begin

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The next morning Ron, Harry, Hermione and Celia sat at breakfast looking over their schedules.

"Look at this Monday!" Ron was exclaiming. "No Potions! We don't have to see Snape until tomorrow!"

"What's so bad about potions?" Celia asked, looking up from her own schedule. "I'd think it'd be fun!"

"Well, the subject's fine, it's the potions master we don't like." Hermione explained.

"Don't like?" Ron questioned. "Don't like? That's the biggest understatement of the year! The man is pure evil!"

"Wow, is he really that bad?" Celia looked to Harry to even out the extremes of Ron and Hermione.

"Oh, I imagine he's not so bad to the other houses, he definitely likes Slytherin a lot. But I suppose he just hates all of Gryffindor house; especially me."

"Wow." was all Celia could say as she looked back down at her schedule. "Lets see, history of magic, transfiguration, Herbology, Care of magical creatures? That sounds cool, and then I have lunch, Charms, hey wait a second! Ron lemme see your schedule!" She commanded, grabbing it from him.

"What's wrong?" Asked Ginny, sitting down next to Celia. "Hey! You're in my potions! Look!" She said, pulling out her own schedule.

"Yeah you're right, but -" Celia looked over the three schedules "I'm in 5th year potions as well!"

"They put you in every day? That's rotten luck!" Ron said, comparing the two. "It looks as though they've given you an extra Defense Against the Dark Arts as well." Ron finished.

"You've got a bit of extra transfiguration too." Harry pointed out.

"Man! I'm going to be working all day!"

"No, look, they haven't given you any divinations, and you've only got History of Magic twice a week, you only have as much class time as everyone else." Hermione showed her. Celia was noticeably relieved at this and the 5 of them went about placing when and with whom all of her classes were.

"Let's see, I've got History of Magic, transfiguration, and Herbology with you," Celia listed, motioning towards Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Then Care of Magical Creatures."

"Harry and I have divinations then," Ron told her.

"I have arithmancy." Hermione said. Celia turned towards Ginny

"You're not with me either; I have History of Magic before lunch."

"Then who do I have it with? I'm not alone am I?" Celia wondered aloud. Just then Fred and George sat down across from Celia.

"Hey guys, do you have Care of Magical Creatures right before lunch?" 

"Oh, hello to you too." George quipped while Fred went digging for his schedule. Celia smirked at him.

"Sorry, did you sleep well? No nightmares about being turned into birds or anything right?" Celia teased.

"No actually, I dreamt up a great prank to pull on you, you might want to watch what you're drinking for a few days." Never putting anything past them, Celia grabbed her cup from the table and peered inside. George snorted and began to laugh when Celia realized he was joking. 

"Very funny." Celia said, feigning curtness and flushing a little. Fred had his schedule now and was studying it casually.

"Yeah, that's it, why?" He asked. Celia looked shocked.

"How did I manage to be 2 years ahead in that when I have extra of everything else?" Celia asked.

"Well, Care of Magical Creatures is a pretty easy class; I guess Dumbledore figured you'd do alright in it. And you get to be with your own age for a bit." Ginny suggested.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Celia agreed. "Okay," She continued "so then we all have lunch right?" The group nodded. "Then after lunch I have charms with you 3" Again indicating Ron, Harry, and Hermione. "Potions with Ginny, and Defense Against the Dark Arts with, oh, Ginny again." She said, looking over the schedules. "Then tomorrow it's the same except I've got potions and Dark Arts with you 3 instead of Ginny. Am I right on that? Yes." She said, checking the schedules and answering herself.

"Potions everyday? That's rough!" Lee commented, having heard her last bit as he took a seat at the table. Celia let out a short laugh. 

"Man, this teacher must be really horrible! I almost want to go just to see for myself." Celia commented finishing up her breakfast.

"Trust me," Harry said. "You won't want that for long."

For the rest of breakfast, the group talked about their plans for the year ahead and Harry, Fred and George took their bets on who would be made new captain of the house team, as Wood had graduated last year, it left a spot open on the team, as well as a need for a new captain. The three of them guessed that the tryouts would be announced within the coming week. When breakfast was finished, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Celia made their way to their first class; History of Magic, with Professor Binns. Walking in, Celia noticed the professor at the front of the room.

"He's a ghost?!" The rest of the class didn't seem too surprised at the condition of their teacher, but Celia nearly couldn't believe it.

"Oh yeah, don't mention it to him though," Ron told her. "we're not sure if he's noticed yet."

"What?" Celia asked suppressing a giggle. The 3 of them smiled.

"They're only saying that because they think he's a little boring." Hermione told her.

"A little boring is not the word Hermione," Ron began. He turned to Celia to explain. "He was in the teacher's room when he kicked it. Word has it he was sleeping in his chair and died in his sleep. Then when it was time for class his ghost stood up and headed off to class; leaving his body behind." Celia looked as though she couldn't contain her laughter.

"That poor class! Walking in to a ghost for a teacher!" Celia exclaimed. "What on earth killed him?"

"Old age definitely, the man's been here longer than any other teacher. We're not even sure if Dumbledore's been here as long as him." Harry explained. Something about what Harry said gave Celia an idea.

"So, you'd definitely say he's the oldest professor here right?" Celia asked, feeling excited.

"Oh I'd say so, without a doubt." Hermione answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you remember the sorting hat's song last night?" The three nodded. "Well, I asked the hat when it was sorting me what the legend was about, and it told me to ask the oldest professor at Hogwarts about it; he thought that person would know, so if this professor is the oldest, then I'll ask him." She told the three of them who were looking at her as though approving of something.

As Celia moved into a row of seats, Ron leaned into Harry and Hermione whispering "I think we've already had a bad influence on her."

"You two are just a bad influence on everyone aren't you?" Hermione said jokingly, moving to follow Celia to her seat. Harry just shrugged at Ron and the two of them followed to their seats. 

This class, like so many others, they had with the Slytherins. Celia and the others saw Malfoy walk in with his cronies Crabbe and Goyle. The two groups exchanged glances but had no time for anything else as Professor Binns had already begun lecturing on the battle for what was called middle earth and the banding together of elves & dwarves, wizards and muggles, and these strange mini-creatures called hobbits. The subject would have been interesting it if was being taught by anyone other than this teacher. He was going on about a Balrog demon when Celia raised her hand. Celia assumed that this was not something that happened often, because it wasn't for a few minutes of staring silently at her that Professor Binns even realized what she was doing.

"Yes, Miss Alanus, did you have something to say?" He asked her cautiously, as if expecting her to say that she was only stretching or give some other reason for her hand being in the air. The whole class was now watching her. Apparently, the break in his speech had given some of the more asleep students the impression that class had ended already. 

"Well, yes, you see, I was wondering if you know anything about the Legend of Alana?" At the finish of this, many of the students looked like they didn't know what she was talking about, though they looked keen for Binns to get off topic and quickly assumed positions of paying close attention to this new conversation.

"Where in the world did you hear about that?" The professor asked, genuinely curious.

"It was the legend that the sorting hat sang about last night. It told me that you would know about it." For a moment it looked as though he hadn't heard, but then he looked very pleased with himself.

"Yes, well, I suppose I would know about it." He said, inflating somewhat. He glanced at the time. "Well, I suppose we have the time for me to tell you about it. Celia smiled and straightened in her desk. Many of the students in the room did the same. To her side, Malfoy, without looking like he cared, was also paying attention to what Binns was about to say.

"In the time of Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin, there was a prophecy made about dark times that would lead to the destruction of the world. It was said that there would be a time when a small fight made would determine the future of not only wizards but all life. Back then, there was a group of wizards who were devoted to the protection of life. One of which was Godric's son Garret. This group awaited the time when the one who would save the world would arrive."

"When did the savior arrive?" Hermione asked, taking a nervous glance at Harry.

"It never did. If they were alive today, they would still be waiting. I can however, make a guess as to who exactly is going to cause the destruction."

"You mean Voldemort?" Harry questioned. Binns, despite the gasps around the room made no sign of fear at hearing the name. Hearing the gasps around the room, Celia looked at Harry and suddenly realized that there was a factor to this world of which she was totally unaware. 

"Well, like I said Mr. Potter, it's only a guess." He continued. "Now, this group of wizards consisted of 4 wizards and 2 witches. They called themselves 'The Aude Arlene' meaning 'the blessed promise.' These 6 made a pact that when the savior did arrive, they would be there to serve him."

"But how is that possible?" Celia asked.

"Descendents, obviously Alanus." Malfoy said snidely. On instinct, Celia turned to say something back at him but then realized what he had said.

"Of course!" She said genuinely "I didn't even think of that!" Malfoy looked somewhat taken aback, as though expecting her to make a snide remark. When he saw otherwise he just shrugged at her and she turned back to Professor Binns smiling.

"Yes, Bravo, as Mr. Malfoy said, they promised that their descendants would be there." He paused here as though catching up to his story. "Anyway," He began again, "no such savior has ever arrived." It was clear that this was the end of his story, and so, as time had run out, the students began gathering their things to head to their next classes. Celia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left class together discussing the legend.

"It's strange isn't it?" Hermione began, "I mean, why would the hat pick this year to tell us about a legend?" Celia shrugged.

"Legend awareness month?"

"That's not it," Ron declared. "It felt bad for us having to hear about the ring wars of the past. And speaking of which, what was wrong with them? Four hobbits, 2 muggles, a dwarf, and elf and a fully grown wizard, and the brain-dead troll still got a shot at him! Harry and I took on a mountain troll when we were 11! And we didn't get ourselves stabbed did we? Honestly! It's a disgrace!" Ron continued to rant about the evils of boring lectures all the way to transfiguration. Celia spent that time smiling and half listening to him complain. Mostly she was thinking about the legend. When they arrived at transfiguration Celia began to get excited. Professor McGonagall came in and announced that in preparation for the O.W.L.s that they must all take at the end of the year, they would spend the week reviewing the first 4 years of class. Celia saw her glance her way and she smiled and silently thanked her for it.

Their next class was Herbology, during which they learned about the many properties of the Jub-Bubble plant which, they were told, they would be planting and caring for starting next week.

"Now," Madame Sprout was saying, "The Jub-Bubble plant is rather small and needs to be around it's planter in order to fully develop, so you will all be taking them with you wherever you go. Which brings us to your assignment. Because you will all have to keep your plant alive and in good health in order to get passing marks I want you all to write for me an essay, only one parchment long, discussing properties of, and proper caring techniques for the Jub-Bubble plant, to be handed in to me at the end of the week."

After Herbology, Celia was to report to Professor McGonagall for some extra lessons in transfiguration. She told Harry, Ron, and Hermione to head on to lunch and that she would catch up a bit later. On her way back to the Transfiguration department she heard something that sounded like a struggle. Two people were arguing about something.

"No! You can't do that Pansy! That's rotten!"

"Oh she deserves it Patsy! Making a huge scene like that! Draco was sour about it for the rest of the night!"

"She seemed nice enough to me! Maybe she was really just happy to be in Gryffindor!"

"Oh grow up! You are so naive! Don't worry though, just a bit of this and I'm sure not even a Weasley would date her!"

Celia could not believe what she was hearing. The voices were definitely those of Pansy Parkinson and her 1st-year sister Patsy. 'I don't know what her problem is with me but I don't see why she has to insult the Weasleys! They are the kindest, nicest people I know!' She thought, anger swelling up inside. She was about to storm in ranting about it when she heard another voice.

"What are you doing?" It was Malfoy.

"Oh Draco, it's so wonderful, I'm making a Wartcap potion to give to that silly little git that Fred Weasley is dating. She'll think twice before upsetting you again." There was a strange pause, during which Celia wondered whether or not she should interrupt.

"Dump it." She heard Malfoy say.

'What?' She thought as Pansy shouted the word.

"You heard me, dump it; she's not an enemy." Celia was in as much shock as Pansy was.

"But, but Draco! What she did to you!" As she was saying this, Celia heard footsteps followed by the sound of liquid being dumped into a drain. Malfoy had just defended her, to another Slytherin no less. That one event alone was enough to dissolve all the anger that had built up inside her. Maybe Malfoy wasn't really as bad as he acted most of the time. Deciding that she had heard enough, she ran the rest of the way to her transfiguration lesson trying not to be too late.

"Goodness! You seem to be rather out of breath Miss Alanus, I don't hope to believe that is because of your desire to learn." Professor McGonagall commented as Celia entered the room. "Perhaps you got lost?"

"No. Sorry Professor, I got distracted on my way here and ran when I realized that I was late." 

"Well, had this been a real class I would be taking 5 points from Gryffindor house, but being just a one on one lesson, I daresay we can afford to be more informal. This is not an invitation to be late again however, you realize that don't you?" 

"Yes, professor, sorry, it won't happen again."

"Good. Now, I noticed that you were having some trouble with your transfiguration today." Celia looked down and felt a little out of place. "Oh there's no need for embarrassment, not many students get it right away. You have to remember that your classmates have been doing transfiguration for 5 years and you have only just started today."

"Maybe if I had more magic in me-"

"Oh nonsense, Mr. Longbottom is as pure as they come and he was having just as much trouble as you were." Celia felt a great surge of relief at hearing this. She really was having trouble with the magic bits and she was so sure it was on account of her lack of magical ability. It was this fact that fuelled her next question.

"Excuse me professor, could you tell me how you can tell that there is any magic in me at all?" Professor McGonagall sighed before answering this new question.

"Well Celia, I have to say I was expecting you to ask me this question eventually, and I have to tell you that there is no doubt that you are as much a witch as I am." Celia, who had been expecting an unwanted answer, looked at McGonagall, now intrigued. "There are a great deal of precautions set up as to avoid muggles ever laying their eyes on this school. But that is only a small part of it. I daresay you have ridden the broom that your parents got you?" Celia nodded. "And when you bought your wand, did it react with you?" Celia again nodded. "And I along with the rest of the school saw you get sorted last night. None of these things would be possible had you been a muggle. The only thing a muggle can do with a broomstick is clean their floors!" Celia laughed at the tone of voice professor McGonagall used when she had said it. As if cleaning your floor with a broom was the most absurd idea she had ever heard.

"Believe me Celia, had you been born here and not in the States, your name most definitely would have been on the list with everyone else your age. You just have to believe in your own magic."

During the remainder of the lesson, Professor McGonagall gave Celia numerous things to transfigure and when it was time for her to go to lunch she was doing infinitely better than she had been in class. When she reached the Great Hall, she had just enough time to eat before heading off to Care of Magical Creatures with Fred, George and Lee.

On the way down to class, she told the three of them about the incident with Malfoy and Pansy.

"Maybe he's not as bad as he lets on." Celia said finishing her story.

"Or maybe someone has him under an Imperius curse" George joked for a lack of a better explanation. "Look, I don't mean to doubt you, but that doesn't sound like something he'd do."

"Maybe." Celia said thoughtfully. "There must be some explanation for it." She said, now speaking mostly to herself "I guess I'll just have to watch him for a bit -- Wow! Look at that man! He's huge!" Celia exclaimed, seeing Hagrid.

"Yeah, he's half giant, but that's not something he's all too proud of." Fred told her.

"What? Why not?" Celia asked.

"They're not the friendliest of beings; giants, oh no, not Hagrid, he's as gentle as they come, but lets say it's not a fact people want buzzing around." Celia nodded in understanding.

"'Ello Fred, George, oh and you must be Celia! Nice to meet you, I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Oh! And I'm the Care o' Magical Creatures professor, great man your uncle, it's what I've always wanted." At this point Hagrid got a little teary eyed. Celia smiled; he really was one of those 'mush-on-the-inside' types. "Oh, sorry Lee, didn't see you there." Lee nodded a greeting and said, "Hello Hagrid."

"Well let's start class then shall we? I've got sumthin' great fer ya today, got special permission from Dumbledore fer this one, sees as we just got one on grounds this year. But I'm gunna need some help from one o' you" Celia looked around at the expressions on the students around her. Some students looked anxious; most of them looked downright scared. Fred and George were purely excited. Celia wanted to know what it was.

"Now, there's many different qualities that are common to phowls." There was a murmur of surprise and excitement among the class. Fred and George looked at Celia and winked.

"I wonder whose help he'll need?" Fred asked knowingly.

"Now, first thing you've got tuh know about phowls is they're one of the loyalist of creatures." Hagrid was saying. "They'll only answer the call of their owner."

"Well, what are you waiting for then?" A Ravenclaw asked. "Call it Hagrid!"

"Can't" Hagrid answered. "The bird's not mine, 's hers." Celia felt her face flush when Hagrid pointed her out. The entire class now had their eyes on her.

"Go on!" Fred said. "Get up there!" Celia stood up and walked over to Hagrid.

"Okay, now all you have to do is call his name."

"Her name you mean, Pegasus is a girl." Celia told him

"Blimey! Well ain't that sumthin'? Well alrigh' Celia, go on an' give 'er a call then."

Celia turned toward the castle and called. For a second she thought she'd done something wrong. Finally she heard Pegasus' cry. Looking in the sky, she saw the silver streak coming towards her fast and put out her arm for the bird to land on. The whole process couldn't have taken more than 10 seconds. Pegasus had flown to her as though flying to her rescue. Celia smiled at her and stroked the feathers covering her throat. The rest of the class looked on in amazement. 

"Well, now," Hagrid began, "ain't she a beauty? Well done Celia, she came right to you. I imagine you ought to get on rather well with each other." Celia smiled and moved Pegasus to her shoulder.

"Now," Hagrid began again. "Celia do you mind if I take her for a bit?" Celia nodded and lifted her shoulder toward Hagrid.

"Go on." She told the bird, who obeyed and few to Hagrid who pet her gently, and then put her on the perch he had set up.

"Now," he repeated. "One of the most important things to know about these creatures is their loyalty. If a phowl has got a good relationship with its owner, it'll do pretty much anything for them. They can be very helpful to a witch or wizard that's in need of help I can tell you that. They have very many qualities of both owls and phoenixes which includes their ability to lift heavy loads, and they can find their owner no matter where he or she may be. After the two have been together for a bit, if there is a good relationship, the bond between the bird and its owner grows so much that some say it's very much like the bird can read your thoughts." Celia looked around at the class. They had all been alternating stares from her to Pegasus to Hagrid and back again. Celia was amazed at what she was hearing. 

'Pegasus,' she thought, looking at the bird, 'you can read my mind?' Celia didn't imagine that she could, she had only had her for a little less than a month after all, but at that moment, Pegasus turned and their eyes locked.

"So," Hagrid was saying. "Does anyone know any defining characteristics of a phowl?" Celia broke her gaze with Pegasus and looked up at Hagrid who was addressing the rest of the class.

"They make really good flares!" George offered. Celia smiled at him

"Yeah they let off that silvery glow; show them what we mean Cel." Fred told her. Celia looked at Pegasus and nodded. Somehow understanding what she wanted, Pegasus flew off its perch straight up into the air and began to spin in the same way she did a month ago above Celia on the beach. When Pegasus returned to her perch, the same silvery glow was left in the air. Celia pet her praisingly.

"Good, good! Anything else?" 

A Ravenclaw boy raised his hand.

"I read somewhere that they can be somewhat clairvoyant, and that explains their reflexes." The boy kept his eyes on Hagrid, waiting for confirmation.

"Well, yes, some people do say that, but it's hard to tell whether it's them seeing the future, or just reading minds. That brings up a good point though; Phowls have excellent reflexes, some of the best of all magical creatures. Bein' half phoenix though, you can't really be all that surprised." Hagrid answered. 

For the rest of class they discussed the many traits of phowls and the best way to care for them. Because many of the class wanted to hold her, Celia took to sending her out to her classmates on occasion. At the end of class, Celia sent Pegasus back to the owlery, and she, Fred, George and Lee headed back to the castle.

"Pretty good lesson today huh?" George asked.

"I really liked it!" Celia answered excitedly. "I didn't know all those things about Pegasus! She's amazing!"

"Yeah, plus we didn't have to avoid talons or fire-breath today." Fred added. Celia looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean fire-breath?" She asked.

"Oh nothing!" George answered. "It's just that Hagrid tends to favor animals that are really cool -- so long as they don't kill you. Dragons, Hippogriffs,"

"And don't forget the blast-ended screwts. Not one day went by when you didn't see loads of people with loads of burns." Fred added. "They were pretty cool though."

When they got back in the castle, Celia bid farewell to the boys, and went to find Ginny so that they could head down to potions together. This was the class she was most excited to get to. Aside from being interested, she really wanted to see what was so horrible about the potions master. When the two girls reached the dungeons she saw that they had potions with Hufflepuff house. When the potions master, Professor Snape, came in, the class hushed and sat attentively in their chairs. 'Wow,' Celia thought to herself, 'If the teachers back home could see that!'

Professor Snape wasted no time in beginning class. They took notes for the first 15 minutes of class followed by Snape magically putting the ingredients and the directions for making an antidote for boils on the chalkboard. Setting them to work he announced that at the end of class he would be giving someone boils and testing their antidote to see if they had gotten it right. Making sure to be as precise as he instructed, Celia went about making her potion. She was feeling very at ease in this class because it seemed that no magic was needed. All she had to do was add the ingredients at the right time -- it was just like cooking. 'This isn't so bad.' she thought preparing her ingredients.

By the end of class Celia's antidote was the exactly the right color it had to be and was letting off a light blue steam. The steam was supposed to turn periwinkle but she still had 3 stirs left. 'C'mon turn!' She thought. 'Okay, one, two, yes!' On her last stir her potion's steam got just enough red in it to turn periwinkle. Steadily, she lowered the flame under her cauldron until it was off, and placed her stirrer down next to the extra ingredients. She looked up to find that Professor Snape was standing in front of her, looking down upon her. The look on his face was unreadable. 

"Yes professor?" She asked wondering if she had done something wrong. Professor Snape was looking at her potion.

"Did you prepare this potion on your own Alanus?"

"Yes sir." she answered. "Is there something wrong?" Snape took a ladle and filled a tube with her potion, closing it with a stopper.

"We will test your potion Alanus. If you have indeed added all the ingredients and in the proper order, you should have nothing to worry about." He paused here watching her face. Celia went over her steps in her mind. "Are you willing to risk it?" He asked her. Celia nodded slowly, going down the list on the board. "Don't worry Alanus, should your antidote _not_ work, I will provide you with the proper antidote. Your assignment however, will receive failing marks." Celia nodded again, this time with more confidence. Snape motioned for her to come to the front of the class and she slowly obliged. Taking another vial from his desk, he handed it to her and told her to drink it. As she did, boils appeared on her face and hands.

"Ah!" Celia put the vial that had contained the potion down and tried to stop the pain from the boils. It wasn't much; more like a hot tingling, but it was very uncomfortable, she felt as though her entire body had fallen asleep and she was experiencing the pins and needles from it waking up. The class gasped as they saw her and Celia heard them beginning to talk.

"Okay Alanus, lets see if the antidote you made is correct." Celia took her own antidote from him and swallowed it down fast. She felt almost immediately that the tingling feeling was gone. After a minute, the last remains of the boils had vanished. The antidote had been correct. Snape seemed to be debating something. Then finally he looked her over. She thought he saw his mouth move, but she couldn't distinguish between a smirk or an annoyed look. She stayed silent waiting for him to comment.

"Well, done." He told her. "You managed to mix the antidote correctly. You receive full marks for this." He told her indicating the bottle which had previously held her antidote. It was what came next that he seemed to have the most trouble with.

"Five points, are awarded to Gryffindor House," Snape announced. There were gasps throughout the room from both houses. "for a well-made antidote." He finished. Celia beamed with pleasure that she had done it right. For the first time since her first class, she felt as though she really belonged in this school. 

"Thank you professor." She said. Snape's only response to this was a short nod.

"Alanus, you may empty the remains of your antidote and go. Everyone else, bottle and cork your antidotes and bring them up to my desk."

"He means magically," Ginny whispered to Celia when she came back to her place next to her. "The spell is Evanesco"

"Thanks." Celia whispered back. Taking out her wand, she pointed it at her cauldron and firmly spoke the incantation. In an instant, the rest of her potion had vanished. 'Awesome!' Celia thought gathering her books.

Celia waited outside for Ginny to finish up and leave class and the two of them walked together to their last class of the day; Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"I can't believe what just happened!" Ginny exclaimed once they had made their way out of the dungeons.

"What do you mean?" Celia asked. 

"Snape actually awarded points to Gryffindor! He never gives Gryffindor points! I don't think he ever has! You might have just made history!"

While they were waiting for their Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor to arrive, all the 4th - year Gryffindors congratulated Celia on winning points from Snape. Celia couldn't wait to tell the others. 

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was by far the most incredible person Celia had ever seen. The first thing she noticed about her were her eyes. They had a warmth about them that seemed to glow. Almost instantly she was more relaxed and calm than she had been since she was very young. Her eyes were brown, no, wait, there was a hint of something in them…orange? And they were a bit almond shaped, giving Celia the impression that she had Asian blood somewhere in her ancestry. Celia decided, however, that her hair was probably her most noticeable feature. At first glance, Celia was worried that perhaps her head was on fire. It took her a minute to realize that it was in fact orange. A dark orange. The tips were varied, with a lighter orange, a dark blond and a lighter blond. It was a color scheme that normally would make anyone look ridiculous but on this woman it was amazing. Her hair went a bit past her shoulders in length, and was styled in a way that looked like she had handed someone scissors and told them to have fun. It was thicker near her head, but thinner towards the ends reminding Celia of feathers. 'Witch or not,' Celia thought looking her over. 'I don't think anyone else in the world could pull it off.'

Taking her place at the front of the class, their new professor looked over her class of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. The entire room was silent, they were all looking her over, anxious for class to start.

"Good afternoon class!" She began, seemingly excited about class. "I am Professor Alastriona, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was some murmuring before she spoke again. "This year, I will be teaching you some very valuable information. By the end of the year, you will all be able to create your own spells, charms, curses, and shields." She was getting wide eyes, and total attention from her class. "However, it will be some time before we can move on to trying our own incantations. Before you can create your own spells, you must learn how spells are created, their origins, and why they work. Now if you would all take out your parchment and quills, I'm afraid you will have to take some notes." 

They took notes for the rest of class about the first spells, as well as newer spells and who created them. Celia was surprised to find that many of the spells used today were created by her own uncle. When class was over, Celia noticed many of the students, particularly the males, were lingering around Professor Alastriona's desk. Celia looked again at the new professor. There was nothing extraordinarily beautiful about her. She was pretty, but aside from her eyes and her hair color, she was rather plain. As Celia and Ginny gathered their things and prepared to leave, the professor called out to her.

"Miss Alanus! Celia, wait a minute!" Celia turned to her professor wondering what it was she wanted. "Celia! I was waiting to meet you. Your uncle has told me a lot about you." Celia felt strangely at ease with her even though she was her professor, and they had just met. Her gaze seemed to penetrate into her soul.

"It's nice to meet you." Celia said, meaning it and smiling genuinely.

"Listen," She continued pulling Celia to the side where they were out of earshot of the rest of class. "I know we're both new here, and I figured it would be nice to have someone around. I know I am your professor, but if you ever need anything, I want you to know that you can come to me. Professor Dumbledore is like family to me, so that makes you like family as well." Celia nodded and thanked her.

"Thanks, that would be nice, the more people here I know, the better."

Ginny and Celia left class a moment later, and headed down to dinner discussing the events of their days.

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Author's note: So, what did you think? I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I go back to school in next week which sadly will slow production a bit. I will try to get at least one chapter up a week if not more. Please review! I really like to hear that people are reading, it helps me be motivated to write more. Let me know what you think.

By the way, what do you all think about the chapter previews? Do you like them? Should I keep doing them? Let me know~

A glimpse of what's to come: News of Celia's historic 5 points from Professor Snape has spread around Gryffindor House, giving her a name of her own. Celia confronts Malfoy about his defense of her to Pansy, and why are all the guys at school obsessed with Professor Alastriona? Also to come -- Time to fly! Quidditch tryouts are announced! Only one spot on the team, what to do? Coming soon in Chapter 12 : Flying Through Rainstorms. See you there!


	12. Flying Through Rainstorms

Author's note: Hey everyone! I am so sorry that it took me so long to update, I hope some of you are still reading or checking for updates. I lost my muse temporarily and didn't have enough time to look for it. I had this chapter partially written but I wouldn't feel right giving you a uninspired chapter. Well I have found my muse finally, so without further adieu: Chapter 12; Flying Through Rainstorms I hope you enjoy it!!

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Chapter 12

Flying Through Rainstorms

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When Celia and Ginny entered the Great Hall, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Fred and George were already there. When they saw the girls at the door, they waved them over to where they had saved them both seats. Celia, who suddenly realized that she was hungry, was extremely pleased to see all the delicious-looking food.

"So," Fred began to ask. "Tell us about this legend." For a second, Celia froze. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason, she felt as though the legend was some sort of secret; something to speak about in hushed voices. She felt then a strange connection among the group of them concerning the legend. Maybe it was just their friendship. Quietly, she began to fill them in with whatever Hermione had not already said.

"The way I figure it," said George when she told them what she had found out. "The dark wizard is Voldemort, and the chosen one is Harry. I mean, think about it, it all fits."

"Almost all fits." Hermione began. "The hat's song said that the 'savior' never came." She finished.

"Professor Binns said so too." Harry added.

"But who else would the savior be?" Fred asked.

"It could be anyone." Celia responded. "There are millions of people in the world, any one of them could be the one."

"Well, that's gonna be loads of fun to try and find!" Ron said sarcastically.

"I don't think so," Ginny began "I mean, the hat chose this year to tell us about the legend, it's probably because the 'savior' is finally here. If it's just noticed then whoever it is much be young." She paused here thinking. "Still, I guess it would still be hard to find him or her." The seven of them pondered this for a minute until Celia thought of something.

"Unless you know what you are looking for." The group watched her waiting for an explanation. "You remember what the hat said about the others joining the 'savior' when he arrived? Maybe the ones that are meant to find the savior will just be drawn to her, or him, kind of like how I met all of you." Celia ended her sentence and froze. 'No way,' she thought. But looking around at the group, she remembered what Professor Binns had said about the Aude Arlene. They were made up of 4 wizards and 2 witches…Celia counted in her mind, and then there was the one savior…and as far as being in the wizarding would was concerned, she was a baby to it. That would explain why this year…Celia looked around at the others. The connection was way too close. For a minute, the seven of them just stared at each other, they seemed to be all looking at each other at the same time.

"Nah!" They said all at once, but Celia knew she wasn't the only one who would be thinking about it later on. 

That night, before going to bed, Celia sat on her bed waiting for Hermione to finish getting ready. When she was done, she came in the room and sat on her own bed, facing Celia. 

"Something wrong Celia?" She asked, wondering why she was waiting for her.

"Hermione, why did George assume that Harry would be the savior at dinner? Who is Voldemort? And why is everyone afraid of him?" The expression on Hermione's face turned serious as she realized that no one had told Celia about the darker parts of their world. Slowly she began to explain to Celia about what had happened 15 years ago, and what had been happening ever since. When she had finished, Celia was a little in shock.

"So, that's where the scar came from, and all his family is dead?"

"All except Sirius, Sirius Black. He is Harry's godfather, but he is wanted for a crime he didn't commit, and so he has to stay hidden. A lot of people lost their families to Voldemort, and last year, a boy was killed by him, Harry barely managed to escape from Voldemort this time. And now he is back in a body of his own. It's really a very dangerous time for all of us. But we're safe as long as we're here. The only wizard Voldemort ever feared is your uncle, and as long as he's here, Voldemort won't touch Hogwarts." 

Celia let this all sink in. 'How horrible,' she thought. 'Imagine, someone that could kill that easily, and poor Harry, to lose his family like that, before he even could remember them fully.' But something didn't seem to fit.

"Wait, but how did Harry survive? I thought you said that Voldemort tried to kill him too." Hermione shrugged. 

"I don't know, no one is supposed to be able to survive the Killing Curse. Once Voldemort decided to kill someone, they usually died." 

"Wow, so, what happened in your first year, how did Harry win that time?" 

"Well, I am not really sure what happened that time, but your uncle explained that because of the sacrifice his mother made for him, Voldemort couldn't stand to be touched by him. She died to save Harry, and that left him with a mark of love, and it flowed through his blood. That's why he couldn't stand to have Harry touch him. But now, Voldemort has a new body, and took some of Harry's blood for it, -er it was a complicated process, but bottom line, that trick won't work again."

"I see." Celia said, solemnly. "Well, that explains a lot. Thanks Hermione."

"Sure," Hermione said. 

The rest of the week went by smoothly. By the next day, word of Celia's points from Snape had gotten around to all the Gryffindors. When Fred and George joined them for dinner on Wednesday, news had spread to the whole school.

"Have you seen the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Fred asked sitting down. 

"Oh, you mean Alas?" Celia asked "Yeah, she's really nice isn't she?" Celia earned stares from Fred, George, Harry and Ron. "What?" she asked. She could see that she was getting glances from the other Gryffindor boys as well.

"Alas? You're on a first name basis with her now?" George asked, somewhat impressed.

"Yeah, she came up to me after class on Monday, she said that Uncle Albus is like family to her and she said that if I needed anything I could come to her. She said that she understands what it feels like to be so new here." With her friendship with professor Alastriona adding on to her fame from her points from potions, Celia was quickly earning a name for herself at Hogwarts aside from 'the new girl dating Fred Weasley,' A name that Celia was now getting used to.

Despite her excitement for lessons, Celia was just as happy as the rest of the Gryffindors when she came into the common room Friday night. Seeing her friends by the fire, she went over to join them and plopped onto a chair next to Fred and George. She yawned as she sank into the cushions and stretched out her arms. 

"Friday…" She sighed happily, resting her head in Fred's lap.

"Friday…" Ron echoed. 

"Amen." Fred and George toned. 

The group of them laughed. They stayed up talking for a bit longer before going their separate ways to their rooms. Getting into bed, Celia noticed her pillow was exceptionally comfortable that night.

The next morning, Celia woke up early and headed to the owlery. She wanted to send her parents a letter with Pegasus telling them how her week went. She also knew that they would probably have news for her and Pegasus could bring their letter back to Hogwarts back for her. Attaching the letter to her leg, she pet Pegasus affectionately and sent her on her way. Then she make her way back towards Gryffindor tower. On her way back, she ran right into Draco Malfoy.

"Alanus." Malfoy said coldly.

"Malfoy." She answered, matching his tone. He moved to go on his way when she grabbed his arm. "Wait." She said, making him stop. "I-I guess I wanted to thank you." She saw his face lose it's icy demeanor and he looked at her curiously. "It's just, well, I heard what you said to Pansy on Monday, with the wart cap potion, and I wanted to thank you for defending me." She saw that Draco understood and he nodded at her. "I was just wondering," She continued. "Why?" He paused for a moment and then seemed to decide on an answer.

"I didn't see a reason to take revenge on you."

"But that day, in Diagon Alley. I heard that you-"

"For one thing Alanus, if I want revenge, I'll take it on Weasley, for another, I won't have someone else taking the pleasure away from me." Celia noted two things in his voice. The first was his usual cold demeanor, the second was an unusual undertone…it was warmer than his usual self. She couldn't figure out what it was, but she knew now that he would always hide it. And because of that, she decided she would keep quiet too. 

When she got back up to the tower, Fred and George were standing by the notice board talking excitedly about something. 

"And what are you two doing?" She asked sneaking up behind them. Without missing a beat the twins turned to her with smirks on their faces.

"Quidditch tryouts this week!" George exclaimed

"McGonagall just put this up." Fred said, indicating a flyer that had been pinned to the wall. "There's a meeting tonight to announce who the new captain is going to be." Celia smiled widely at them.

"I wonder if one of you will be captain."

"I hope not," said George. 

"You don't want to be captain?" Celia asked, surprised.

"Let someone else do the dirty work." Fred explained. "Leave the playing to us, it's better that way." He finished.

"Besides, how would they ever decide between us? It's not like you could have two captains." George added. 

"Heh," Celia let out, "Who'd have thought?" She thought out loud. "So who can try out?"

"Anyone above first year that has a broom. We've only got one spot open on the team though, it's gonna be rough."

"You gonna try out Celia?" Someone asked form behind. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all come back from the library where they had gone upon Hermione's insistence that they should at least try to get some work done early in the weekend. The two of them put up a big fuss about it arguing that the human brain was not meant to be used on a Saturday but they went along with her just the same. It was Harry how had asked if Celia was planning to try out. 

"Oh- well, uh, I'm not sure, I mean, there's only one spot." She did want to play, but she knew that Ron had grown up with the sport, and He had wanted a spot on the team since he was a child, she didn't want to make his chances worse. The rest of the group didn't seem to catch her meaning.

"That's alright! You've got as good a chance as anyone on the Hermes!" Celia smiled. 'It's better that they think that is the reason anyway.' She thought to herself. For the rest of the morning, the group of them sat around in the common room talking. Sometime in the afternoon Ginny came in and Pegasus showed up at the window carrying the response from Celia's parents.

Deciding at lunch that it was too nice of a day to stay indoors, the group of them took to the outdoors. They found a tree by the Lake and all sat around it. Quickly getting bored, Harry, Hermione, and Celia convinced the Weasleys to try out some muggle games. After some protest, the group of them began a rough, and somewhat confusing game of dodge ball. To make it more challenging, the group of them decided to play with 3 balls. They played all day, allowing students who were passing by to join in. When there were at least 12 of them playing, they decided to split into teams. Fred and Celia alternated using each other as shields when on the same team, and when they were split up, the two of them and George constantly targeted each other. In a few hours, a group of over 20 had gathered and none of them noticed the storm clouds that were rolling in until the sky opened up and drenched them all with buckets of rain. The sudden downpour caused their numbers to dwindle, but a few stuck around. When they were all thoroughly soaked Celia, Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny decided it was finally time to go in. They gathered up the balls, they were now playing with about 8, and brought them back to Hagrid's hut. 

"I was wondering when you lot would call it quits." Hagrid said, amused at the seven drenched teenagers in his hut. They just smiled and the boys shrugged their shoulders. 

"I was surprised that you three stuck around." George toned, pointing at the girls. 

"Hey, it was fun!" Ginny declared. "Besides, it's only a little rain." The girls smiled behind her, agreeing, and Hagrid laughed.

"I love the rain." Celia said, now looking out the window. "It's so peaceful."

"That it is," Hagrid agreed, watchin' It come down an' give everything the water it needs, washes away the bad it does. Wonderful thing, rain."

Celia sighed in agreement still watching the rain. Then something caught her eye, There was a woman out in the rain. Celia straightened and started watching. There was a familiarity about her, she had seen that dress before… 

Celia gasped in realization. 'Alas?' she thought, ' What is Alas doing out in the thunderstorm?' As she watched, Alas spread her arms and looked up at the sky. 'What in the world is she doing?' Celia thought. She looked as thought she was concentrating on something, and then she began to glow blue. 'What?'

"Celia!" Harry's voice broke her from her thoughts. She turned around to see everyone standing by the door. 

"Come on, we're heading out." Fred said waving her over. Taking one more glance out the window, there was nothing there. Surprised by this, she quickly scanned the area, all she saw was a large blue/green bird flying through the rain.

"Celia," she turned to see Fred standing next to her, his hand extended. "Let's go." Celia took his hand and let him guide her out the door.

"Bye Hagrid!" she called as they stepped out.

"See you tomorrow Hagrid." Harry said.

"Goodnigh' now." Hagrid bid them following them to the door. "Dun go getting' sick now ya hear?"

"We won't Hagrid!" Ginny called. "Goodnight!" Hagrid waved at them and went back into his house, while the seven students made their way back up to the castle.

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Author's note: Well, what did you think? I promise that I will continue to write for as long as my muse sticks around, so hopefully you should have another chapter coming soon. I would leave you a preview but to be honest, I have no idea what will come next. I hope you're enjoying it so far! Please review and let me know that you are still out there. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. Thanks to Prongz, David M. Potter, and Saffarii-Phoenix, I really appreciate it.


	13. Classes as Scheduled

Author's Note: I am so very sorry that this took me so long. Numerous things took the place of the story for a while. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's shorter than the others I think, but this is the way I want to break them here. The next chapter should actually be up in a matter of hours, I just have to edit it. I hope you like this chapter! Please review!

Chapter 13: Classes as Scheduled

The next few weeks flew by. Ron, Ginny and a few other Gryffindors had tried out for the House team. It was a close call between a few of them, but many, like Ginny, had wanted a chaser position, and since neither Angelina, Katie, nor Alicia were willing to move to keeper, and no one was good enough as chaser to justify moving them, in the end, the final position on the team was filled by Ron as keeper. That weekend, the group of them had celebrated in the common room with some food from the kitchens and butterbeer from the twins.

Lessons went by smoothly, and they were beginning to learn proper wording for their spells in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Before they knew it, it was time for the first Hogsmeade weekend.

"I'm so excited!" Celia exclaimed that morning at breakfast. "A whole town of witches and wizards! Just, all right there!"

"Yup, great place Hogsmeade -- some of the best shops that a young wizard can find." Fred announced.

"What kind of shops do they have?" Celia asked.

"Any kind you can think of, you've got The Three Broomsticks for food and drink, the Quidditch Supply Shop, pet stores, Honeydukes, and of course there's Zonko's." Fred said the name as though it was the greatest thing in the world. Looking at him suspiciously she asked,

"And Zonko's is…?"

"A wonderful supply shop for all young mischief makers." George explained. "No trip to Hogsmeade is complete without it."

The group finished up their meals and soon they got into the carriages to go to Hogsmeade. The air outside was clean and crisp and by this time, it had started to snow. Celia laughed as the snow gathered on her cloak and in her hair. There was something about snow that stopped you from feeling the cold. The group began their shopping and showed Celia all the places there were to see in Hogsmeade. She spent most of her money buying candy and a bit on some practical joke items at Zonko's that she just couldn't pass up. She also saw some treats in a store window that she was sure Pegasus would like. She was having a blast. For a while, Fred and George disappeared somewhere, and Harry and Ron had gone into the Quidditch Supply Shop, so Ginny, Hermione and Celia were left to wander the streets alone.

"So, are you having a good time?" Hermione asked Celia, who had been trying to catch snow in her mouth.

"This place is amazing!" Celia answered, still watching the sky with her arms spread. "I don't think I have ever seen so many new things in one day!" Hermione and Ginny smiled.

"That was my first reaction to it as well." Hermione said. Talking as they walked, the three came across a small bookstore. Many of the books inside looked worn, as though written long ago. Celia came to a stop as did the other two girls once they say what had caught her attention.

"Lets go check it out," Celia suggested. "we might find something about the legend." Nodding in agreement, Ginny and Hermione followed Celia into the store.

Inside, there were three rows with bookcases on either side. Each picking one, the three girls began looking for books that might have any information about the Legend of Alana.

'Lets see,' Hermione thought, scanning through titles. 'Fantastic beasts of the past Century, 371 Ways to Breed A Newt? Why would _anyone_ need 371 ways to breed a newt? The Origin of Owl Post, oh, it looks like all these have to do with animals' Hermione finished looking at one side and moved to the other. 'Animal transformations, Animagus, The Connections of Animals to Humans, oh drat, it's all the same.' Hermione continued looking at the shelf until she heard Ginny cry out.

Celia gazed at the shelves before her. 'Okay, lets see, muggles, muggles, How Muggles do it; A Guide to Living Without Magic,' Celia let out a snort, 'They act like it's so hard! Okay, lets see, muggle sports, muggle jobs, Man! It's all muggles! What about this side?' Celia turned to take a look at the bookcase opposite the one she had been scanning, 'Okay, lets see, muggles, oy not more muggles, oh here's one on wizards, wizards, magic, more muggles, oh this sounds interesting, A Would Divided; The Split of Muggles and Wizards.' Celia picked this up and started reading when she heard Ginny's cry.

'Okay' Ginny thought. 'What am I looking for? The Legend of Alana, so something about legends or myths right? So lets see…Magic Spells and there Origin, Professor Alastriona mentioned that I think, magic, magic, magic, oh here we are, history, timeline, Ancient Magical Myths and Legendary Legends, oh that might be good.' Ginny opened the book and scanned through. 'Oh this is crap, Lockharts' junk was more factual than this rubbish.' she thought as she closed the book and made room for it on the shelf. As she was doing so, another book caught her eye. Prophecies of the Past. 'I hope this isn't as lame as the other one.' She thought. Flipping through the pages, she opened up to a page in the middle of the book and froze.

"Celia! Hermione! Come quick!" The three girls stared down at the page before them. There it was, in all it's glory. 'The Legend of Alana.'

"There it is," Hermione voiced.

"It's just like you said." Ginny said to Celia.

"The Legend of Alana," Celia read the title. "_The legend of Alana dates back to the time when Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was alive. It was first heard of back in a time when the wizarding world was still known of by some muggles._

During this time, there was a dark wizard known as Adelard. This wizard was the main cause of the muggle-wizard split. He gained power by driving fear into the people and separating the gaps already between them. He caused mistrust between wizards and muggles and eventually the muggles decided to separate entirely from the wizarding world. In an effort to close those gaps, some witches and wizards took muggle husbands and wives, however, this did nothing but to separate those wizarding families with fully magical ancestry from those with muggle and magic unions."

"Wow," Hermione commented. "From that long ago…" Celia paused to spare a look at her friend, and when she saw that she was ok, she continued reading.

"_The Legend of Alana tells of a 'savior' who is supposed to arrive to battle the dark wizard Adelard_"

"But he must be dead by now right?" Ginny wondered aloud. Celia kept reading.

"_When it had seemed as though things would never get any better, murmurs of an old prophecy began to circulate. The prophecy had been made long before then and had said that went the savior finally did arrive, a group of her peers would gather and would help her defeat the darkness. A group of witches and wizards in that time, who had been determined to defeat Adelard set out to find the 'savior' that was to come. Though they never found her, the group of them made a pact that whenever the 'savior' did appear, they would somehow be there to aid her in any way they could._"

"So the 'savior' is female?" Celia thought aloud. "_They called themselves 'The Aude Arlene' which means 'The Blessed Promise,' and they were some of the most zealous soldiers in the fight against Adelard._

The Aude Arlene was made up of four wizards and two witches. The most well-known of the group was Godric's son Garret Gryffindor."

Celia finally stopped reading, and the three girls, now sitting on the floor, sat looking at each other. Finally, it seemed that they all decided it was a good time to speak up.

"Well…" Hermione began

"Wow." Ginny declared.

"Good find Gin…" Celia said.

"Yeah," Ginny agreed.

The three girls smiled at themselves and got up from where they were sitting.

"How much is it? We should but it." Ginny said. Celia checked and her eyes bulged. She shook her head.

"It's about 50 galleons." Ginny and Hermione frowned. Neither had that much money.

"If we split it, it will only be about 16 each," Ginny mentioned. "I have enough for that."

"So do I." Hermione said happily.

"I do too," Celia said "But are you guys sure it's worth it to buy? I mean we already read it, we can just come back again next time."

The girls hesitantly decided that leaving it would be the best idea.

Celia, Ginny, and Hermione met Ron and Harry in front of the Quidditch Supply Shop and the 5 of them headed over to Honeydukes. While they were waiting for the twins, the girls told Harry and Ron about what they had read in the book.

"So apparently," Celia was saying "this 'savior' is a girl. Not only that, she still hasn't arrived, and that the dark wizard who started all this was called Adelard."

"So then, that was who the 'savior' was supposed to help fight?" Harry asked.

"So then, maybe the prophecy was a fluke?" Ron started. "Since Adelard must be dead right?"

"Wait a minute…" Celia said, looking in a corner and sipping a butterbeer. "Draco said something in class, you guys remember? I asked how the Aude Arlene would be there and he said descendants… so maybe Voldemort is a descendant of Adelard?" Celia suggested. The group allowed this to sink in.

Classes for the next few weeks went fairly normally. Soon the quidditch season began and everyone was settling into their routines. Finally, one day in Defense Against the Dark Arts, professor Alastriona announced that they were ready to start trying out the spells that they had been creating.

"The most important part of any spell is the feeling you put into it." Alas was saying. "Some of you will excel at creating offensive spells, some of you defensive. Some will thrive at healing, and some at clever spells that don't really harm or heal, but can prove quite useful in a time of need. The key is finding which spells are the best for you and putting your feelings into them. The stronger the feeling, the stronger the spell." She paused and the class took this in. "But beware, if you try to use a spell that you heart isn't in, it could cause a great deal of unbalance." She added in somewhat of a mystical voice. "Or it just won't work and nothing will happen," She went on cheerily. "This being said, it's time to start." Alas finally announced, clasping her hands together.

"Now, I want you all to get in pairs and try out the spells you've made. Find out which ones feel the most natural to you. Have fun with it, I only ask that you don't hurt each other. Let me know if you need help."

Ron and Harry paired up, and next to them Hermione and Celia. As they started, Ron was practicing defensive spells, and Harry offensive. Celia looked over hers, trying to decide which to use first. She was having a particularly difficult time figuring out her feeling at the moment. Hermione tried a spell she had come up with.

"Cumulus homerus!" She said, pointing her wand at Celia. A group of clouds formed around her head and blocked her sight. Celia turned her head around trying to get away from the cloud-cover but it surrounded her. She ducked, hoping to get under it, but it followed her.

"A little help here?" Celia asked, a laugh in her voice.

"Arresto incantatem!" Celia heard, and the clouds dissipated. Hermione was beaming.

"Worked like a charm Hermy." Celia told her, also smiling. "That was a good one, I couldn't see for my life." Hermione laughed and went to look for another spell to try. Celia still couldn't decide. She was worried that none of her spells would work. Her heart just wasn't in any of them. Next to them, Ron and Harry were trying out their spells simultaneously in a sort of mini- duel. It almost looked choreographed. Harry attacked, Ron blocked, different spell now, new defense. The longer they went the more complex their spells got.

"They must have really been practicing." Hermione commented. "They've really gotten good." she said

"Electricute!" Harry said, it was a simple enough spell, but it looked powerful.

"Votum Speculum!" Ron yelled. Suddenly it seemed as though he was surrounded by mirrors. It did the trick; the bolt of lightning from Harry's wand bounced off the mirror and had been reflected. "Bugger!" Ron yelled as though not really meaning to use that particular barrier. Celia now saw why. "Harry look out!" Ron called. Harry dodged, but his spell was quick and it was too late. His body shook and he fell to the ground.

"Harry!" The three voices yelled, running to him. Harry seemed charred, and very much unconscious. Ron reached out to him.

"Wait!" Hermione yelled, though she had meant to simply say it, as she grabbed Ron's hand away, "The lightning needs to be grounded." She said an incantation and what looked like the kind of rubber used for tires appeared around him. The three heard a spark and Hermione removed the rubber.

"Harry! Harry wake up!" Ron yelled, Hermione felt for a pulse.

"Geeze, Harry how much strength was in that spell?" she asked quietly.

"What do you mean by that?" Celia asked, not liking the tone in her voice. Hermione looked up at her and Celia felt something rise inside her as though it were sleeping her whole life and had just woken up. It was a kind of warm feeling, it made her feel stronger than she usually was. Celia stood up and allowed the feeling to fill her whole body. Taking out her wand, she aimed it at Harry and spoke an incantation from her insides out,

"Revitalus!" A jet of golden light shot from her wand. It looked like a sun beam. She felt her heart telling Harry that he would wake up. In a minute, the spell was finished. Celia remained standing, her wand still pointed at Harry, finally his eyes slowly opened and he was awake. Celia breathed a sigh of relief and fell to the floor, feeling exhausted.

"Harry!" Ron and Hermione both exclaimed happily. They both had tears in their eyes. As Harry sat up, Hermione hugged him.

"I'm so sorry Harry! I didn't think before I used it! I didn't mean to use that block on you." Harry hugged Hermione back and turned to Ron.

"That, was the best defense I have ever seen in my life." He said smiling at him. Ron laughed.

"That was a really powerful spell Harry," Celia said a little weakly. "It nearly killed you."

"Speaking of which," Ron began. "That was the best healing charm ever! How did you do it?" He asked Celia.

"I-I don't really know. I felt this power rise up in me, and I felt my heart telling Harry to wake up, and then he did." Celia answered, as honestly as she could.

"That was magnificent!" Professor Alastriona said. "What a show! Harry, that's 10 points for that spell, Ron 10 for the block, and 30 points for Celia, that was an excellent healing charm! Not many can make a healing of that magnitude! You must be very good friends to care for him that much." The four of them nodded, all a bit red in the face, but beaming none the less. "Well done indeed!" The professor went on "Well, Celia, you'll have to rest up a bit, I imagine that took quite a bit out of you. Come over here and I'll fix you up with a pass, oh dear, Mr. Malfoy, you'll want to get to the hospital wing as well, come here, you can accompany Miss Alanus." Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at Celia, all three of them looking unhappy about the situation. Celia looked back and smiled, waving her hand in a 'don't worry about it.' fashion. As soon as Alas had made out the pass, Draco and Celia were on there way.

They were both a bit quiet at first, just walking slowly towards the Hospital wing, then Celia broke the silence.

"So, what happened to you?" She asked quietly. Draco's shoulder was bleeding. He stayed quiet for a minute. Celia figured he wouldn't answer and looked at the paintings.

"Crabbe and Goyle," he said. Celia thought perhaps this should have sufficed as an answer, but Draco continued. "The three of us were working together and they both attacked at the same time." Celia nodded. Draco added defensively, "Well, it's not as thought their spells worked anyway, I was about to block the second one when Potter went and shocked himself. If Weasley and the mudblood hadn't yelled -" It seemed as though the sound echoed all across the hall. Celia had turned and slapped him across the face. It couldn't have hurt that much, but Draco looked a cross between shocked and angry. He was about to say something but Celia beat him to it.

"Just because you couldn't block 2 spells at once is no reason to go insulting people! What does It matter if one got passed you? Wizards 100 times more skilled than you have had spells get through their defenses! You're not perfect Draco! No one ever said you had to be! And I will not stand here and listen to you insult my friends!" She yelled at him. It appeared that her sudden outburst had shocked him even further and had surprised him enough for his anger to dissolve. Celia tuned on her heal and headed in the direction of the hospital wing alone, leaving Draco to follow in her wake.

A/N: Well I hope you like it. Things really start to move again in the next chapter. Thank you to everyone that still reads and please review! Look forward to Chapter 14: Dreams. See you there!


	14. Dreams

Author's Note: Hi everyone, I meant to get this chapter up that same day, but then I realized that it wasn't done yet. Then when it was done, I couldn't get internet at school. I am very sorry that you had to wait. Thank you for reading my story so far, I hope you enjoy this next chapter and please don't be shy to review, I like getting the feedback! That's all for now! On to:

Chapter 14: Dreams

"Garret no! You aren't the one! Don't do this!" A boy screamed.

"Well, she's not here is she? I won't let this mongrel kill any more of us!" Garret looked like he was preparing for a suicide attack.

"Truly, Garret there will be more time! You know you don't stand a chance!" A girl this time.

"That's right boy, you know you'll die, why throw your life away?" This voice was far too menacing for comfort. Celia watched the scene as thought it was a movie, but she was there. She could stop it; all she had to do was get there in time. She commanded her body to run, her feet felt as though they were stuck in cement. It was like running through water that was up to her neck. 'Hang on!' she thought 'I'm coming! Don't do it Garret!' She was half way there, Garret was running toward Adelard.

"Very well, have it your way boy! AVADA KEDAVRA!!" Green light shot from Adelard's wand.

"No!!!" 5 other voices screamed along with her own. "Revitalus! Revitalus! Revitalus!"

"Alanus! Snap out of it!" Someone had her shoulders and was shaking her. Celia shot up.

"Garret!" Celia opened her eyes and looked around the room breathing hard. She was sweating. Malfoy was standing in front of her; he was still holding her shoulders. Finally Celia calmed down. "A dream…" she sighed.

"Sounded more like a nightmare to me." Draco said. "Who's Garret, and who were you trying to heal?"

Celia stared at him. How could she answer when she wasn't really sure what was going on either? She gave him the only answer that she knew for sure;

"I-I don't know." Malfoy was giving her a skeptical look. "No, I mean I really don't know, it must have been a dream.

"Well, of course it was a dream." Malfoy said snidely.

"Oh hush," Celia said, rolling her eyes. Malfoy's eyes widened and Celia thought she saw a corner of his mouth raise into a smirk, but she ignored it. "There was a whole group of people, at least 6, wait 7 but that's including me. And there were all fighting this one really evil sounding man, his name was Adelard. Celia shuddered. "He was really frightening, and then Garret, he was there…wait, 4 wizards, 2 witches…Garret Gryffindor! That was the Aude Arelene! They're the ones who were awaiting the savior! And Adelard is the dark wizard, he killed…he killed Garret Gryffindor, because I wasn't fast enough."

Draco, who had been listening to her story looking like he wasn't sure whether he believed her or if he thought she was mental, now stopped her.

"What do you mean _you_ weren't fast enough? You weren't there Alanus." He said snidely, though not as cruelly as usual. Celia looked up at him as though she forgot he was still there, then remembered, and went on with her story.

"But in the dream, I - it felt like if only I could reach them, I could have saved him. It wouldn't have happened if the savior was there…" Celia ran out of things to say. Draco shrugged his shoulders. Celia thought about the dream a little more and looked out the window. It was still light, but the sun was in a different spot than it had been.

"How long was I asleep?" Celia asked. Draco shrugged again.

"A couple of hours. Wait 'till my father hears about this! I could have bled to death over here, and Madame Pompfrey disappears…" Celia rolled her eyes

"Oh please, it's barely deep." She said, hopping off the bed. "There has to be some bandages here, help me look." Celia tuned to see that Draco hadn't moved and was watching her again as though she had lost her mind. "What?" Celia asked.

"You want me to help you look for a what?"

"A bandage, you know, cloth thing, you put it on cuts so you don't 'bleed to death.'" she said, mocking him. Now Draco had a funny look on his face and Celia realized that he probably had no idea what she was talking about. She kept forgetting that the wizard world had other ways of doing things. "Oh," She started again, hoping she hadn't made him feel really dense. "I forgot, I guess you guys have better ways of dealing with things like that. You know, wizards I mean, your methods are probably a lot faster than the muggle way -- what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're, you're a, a-" Malfoy was looking at her as thought she was something repulsive and he had just realized it.

"Alright Mr. Malfoy, stay still." Madame Pompfrey had come in and was now tending to Malfoy's shoulder. "You're fine now, get back to class." Malfoy glanced icily back at Celia as Madame Pompfrey shuffled him out the door.

"What was that all about?" Celia wondered aloud. Madame Pompfrey waved her hands at her.

"Oh if it's Mr. Malfoy you mean I wouldn't sit on it too long. His grudges never make much sense if you ask me. Alright, if you're all rested you can make your way down to class." Celia nodded, gathered her things, and headed out the door.

She took her time in the halls and found herself wandering towards the owlery. 'There's no real reason for me to go to class now.' she thought 'I could just say I was still in the hospital wing…' She thought about the dream as she found a seat near a window in the owlery. She could still hear the threat in Adelard's voice. She shuddered. 'Garret…' she thought. Pegasus flew to her knee, Celia stroked her and sighed.

"I couldn't reach him Pegasus…I tried, but I couldn't get there in time. Something was holding me back." As she looked at her phowl, she felt herself being comforted. She laughed a little. "Is that you Pegasus?" The bird looked at her. Celia smiled. "Thanks." Celia sighed. "I wonder what was wrong with Draco?" She asked aloud, trying to figure it out. "We were actually getting along and then -" Celia sighed again. "I don't understand, what happened?"

"It was right after I explained about the bandages--he didn't even know what they were." Celia froze. "Did he look at me like that because I am from the muggle world?" Celia was strangely depressed. "I didn't realize--" she thought back to the day she, Ginny, and Hermione had found that book. It said Adelard had caused the split between the wizard and the muggle world. "…from all the way back then…" Celia repeated Hermione's statement, only now really understanding.

"Something's happened to her…" Celia said now thinking aloud. "Because she's from the 'real' world, the non-magic world." Celia thought back to what Draco had said on the way to the hospital wing, "…Weasley and the mudblood…" Celia's mind hung on the word 'mudblood.' She didn't know what it meant but it didn't sound very nice. As though he was saying that Hermione's blood was like mud. "Well in that case, I am glad that I slapped him for it." Celia said.

Celia spent some more time silently sitting with Pegasus on her knee. When she finally left, it was time to head down to dinner. When she entered and saw Harry she remembered what had put her in the hospital wing in the first place.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, running towards him, finally having enough strength to be properly excited that he was alive. "Are you completely alright?" Harry along with Ron and Hermione turned when they heard her and the three of them looked as though a great weight had been lifted.

"Celia!" Hermione greeted happily, "What happened to you? No one has seen you in classes since defense against the dark arts, are you alright?" Celia smiled at Hermione, with a new soft spot for her in her heart.

"Yes, I'm fine, I just needed some rest. I guess that charm took a lot of strength out of me. But I'm much better now." She told them in total truth.

The group settled down to dinner

"So when does quidditch start?" Celia asked.

"First game's Saturday." said Ron. "Angelina's real pumped about it. We're playing Hufflepuff, not a bad start."

"Angelina?"

"Angelina Johnson,"" George filled in. "New captain, she didn't used to be as mental as she is now." He finished, as though thinking this was terribly funny.

"Captain life must have gotten to her, thank God it missed us, isn't that right?" Fred said. The twins made a motion of wiping their foreheads clean of sweat.

Ginny, Hermione and Celia laughed, Harry and Ron chucked and rolled their eyes.

"So what did I miss in the rest of classes?" Celia asked.

"Well, loads of questions for one thing." Harry told her rolling his eyes.

"Everyone's really curious about that healing charm; it really was a piece of work. After you left, Alas had this look on her face as though she was really impressed and kept talking about how you sacrificed yourself." Hermione explained. Celia felt herself blush.

"I don't know about that," She said, trying to make it seem less important. "Sacrifice I mean, I don't think it was all that."

"Oh it most certainly was Miss. Alanus," Celia turned to see Professor Alastriona behind her beaming. "I see that you have regained your strength. I am glad to see it; you gave quite a bit of yourself for Mr. Potter." Celia felt herself going red again. It was only a small consolation that Harry was also starting to flush. It was Ron who asked what was on all their minds.

"Why do you say it was such a sacrifice? I mean I know she was real tired afterwards, but that's just from the magic going through her right?" Professor Alas began to shake her head.

"No no dear boy, healing magic is far different than the magic you use to, say reflect a lightning bolt." Ron winced and looked apologetically at Harry who smiled. Alas was going on, "You see, in order to heal someone, you have to be willing to heal them, even if it means sacrificing yourself. That is why healers are always of a certain disposition, and might I add, they are almost always from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. These are the people that would always choose to die for a friend. When I said that Celia must really care for Harry, as a friend I'm sure," she added when she saw the glances of students. "I meant that she values his life so that she would give her own for his sake." Everyone within earshot was now staring at Celia. "And that," she paused for effect. "is why I sent you to rest. That charm literally took a lot out of _you_."

When Professor Alastriona continued her way back up to the teacher's table, the group of Gryffindors stared after her in shock before turning to Celia.

"Wow," Harry began, sounding as though he perhaps hadn't realized how close he had come to death. He turned to Celia, looking speechless, and said, "Thanks." Celia, who didn't feel that she could get any redder, suddenly let out a chuckle,

"Anytime." She told him, her voice revealing that she hadn't really understood why she was so tired until now.

"You would really die for me?" Harry asked now, looking as though he felt flattered. Celia was silent for a minute and then looked around. 'I guess I would die for any of them.' She thought. She only answered Harry's question with a smile.

When they reached the common room after dinner, the group of them all sat on the chairs by the fireplace and talked for a bit. The boys seemed pretty excited about the upcoming quidditch game and Celia enjoyed watching them talk. Eventually, they headed up to their dorms for the night. After everyone fell asleep, Celia got out of bed and went into the common room to sit by the window. It had started to rain, and Celia listened to the sound of it on the roof. It had always been a sound that calmed her. Tonight though, she had a lot on her mind. Voices rang through her mind as though they were all speaking at relatively the same time.

__

'"…healing magic is far different…you have to be willing to sacrifice…"

"You-you're a -"

"Garret no!" "Well the savior isn't here is she?" "Avada Kedavra!!" "Revitalus!"

"In order to heal someone…literally took a lot out of you."

"I didn't get there in time…"

Celia put her hands over her head to get the voices to stop. She had the strange feeling that all of this meant something but she couldn't figure it out. Celia sighed and rested her head against the cool window.

"Couldn't sleep?" A familiar voice whispered from behind her. She felt herself jump a little, but was relieved when she turned to see George standing behind her grinning. Celia nodded.

"A lot on my mind." She explained.

"You ought to get a pensieve. Dumbledore's got one, great things, any idea what I'm talking about?" Celia shook her head smiling. "Well, I guess I'll just fill in then." He said sitting down. Celia found it amazing that George could be so serious. She wasn't really sure why, but she found herself unloading everything that had happened to her in the past two years, leaving out nothing, everything that had happened last year in high school; her best friend stealing the one boy that she had loved for 4 years, losing both her love and her friend, coming here, her fears about not having any magical ability, the dream, Malfoy's defense of her with the wart cap potion, his reaction to finding out she was muggle born, everything even her dream in the hospital wing. George just sat listening to her talk. At some point she had started crying. When she was finally done, George was hugging her, waiting for her to stop crying. When she could finally calm down, George released her and looked at her.

"Feeling any better?" He said. Celia laughed and nodded, still sniffling a little bit. "You gotta stop keeping all this to yourself; it's not good for you."

"But everyone has their own problems, they don't need mine,-"

"Well, I'm just bloody brilliant, so I could use a few." Celia laughed at him and smiled. She caught his meaning though. Although she wasn't sure she would ever take him up on it, it was a great relief to know that he would listen. Celia headed back up to her room to go to sleep feeling as though she had emptied her head of everything. She fell into a deep sleep that night, as though she was being surrounded by a force field that was replenishing her body back up to normal. She woke up the next morning feeling better than she had in a long time.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You make my life happy! I will try to get the next chapter up just as soon as I can, thank you so much to you all.


	15. Pegasus' Secret

Author's note: Hi everyone, I am really sorry that this took so long. I was having some major writers' block! I hope you enjoy it, please let me know what you think. I will try to get the next chapter out just as soon as I possibly can, thank you so much for continuing to read!! And now, on to:

Chapter 15: Pegasus' Secret

The rest of the week seemed to fly by to the Gryffindors. Before she knew it, she was waking up Saturday morning and heading down to breakfast with everyone, before the boys left to get ready for their match. Celia was so excited. She knew all about quidditch now, but this was going to be the first match she had seen. She was beaming.

She and George had been as brother and sister ever since that night, and her relationship with everyone was more natural now than ever. She found it surprising that morning at breakfast to realize that she had only known these people for a month.

"Is it just me? Or does it seem like we have known each other for way longer than one month?" She asked, not really to any of them in particular. Hermione seemed to ponder the idea, as though she were just as surprised,

"Well, technically, George and I have been stalking you for much longer, so I don't think we count." Fred said putting his arm around her as though trying to be suave. This earned a laugh from the whole table and they were in high spirits all the way through the meal. Finally, the boys took their leave, and headed down to the locker rooms with the rest of the Gryffindor team. Celia, Ginny, and Hermione saw some members of the Hufflepuff team getting up as well.

In a few minutes, the girls headed down to the pitch in order to get seats so that they could see everyone.

"…so really, Ron's a little nervous…it's his first game and all, he doesn't want to let Fred and George down. I think he really feels like he's the least talented in the family…" Hermione had been telling Celia and Ginny, "I really hope he does well…" Celia smiled at Hermione.

"Well, we'll cheer him on anyway! Real loud so that everyone will hear!" Celia said dragging out the word 'real' and punching the air above her. She was in a really cheerful mood. Ginny laughed, and with just as much energy said,

"Yeah!" and the two girls high-fived, and started laughing. Hermione joined in as well and the three of them took their seats.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to the first quidditch game of the season: Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor!" The stands erupted into cheers, except for the Slytherins who, it seemed, only showed up in order to jeer at the other houses. "I'm your commentator Lee Jordan! The players are entering the pitch, here comes the Hufflepuff team," The crowd cheered and Lee said something about their newest players.

"Oh no! Ron's going to go beet red when he hears his name!" Ginny said, still laughing.

"We have to cheer over the Slytherins!" Celia told them, Ginny and Hermione nodded.

"…And here comes the Gryffindor team with its new captain Angelina Johnson and its newest addition to this team, Ron Weasley!!" The girls erupted into cheers, and it sounded like the rest of the house, inspired by their energy, joined in. Celia could see the rest of the team saying this and that to Ron, and when he flew by, she could see that although he was, as Ginny predicted, beet red, he was also beaming. Lee was continuing, "…That brings the Weasley count up to three and so far every Weasley that has come through the school has played on the House team…well, every boy anyway, sorry Ginny-"

"Jordan you are supposed to be commentating on the game _not_ giving us a lesson on genealogy!" The girls heard Professor McGonnagall's voice scold him and they broke out into laughter.

"Has every member of your family really played on the house team?" Celia asked Ginny.

"So far, yeah," She answered.

"That explains what Ron's so worried about." Celia commented. And the commentary went on.

"Sorry Professor, the players are taking their positions. It looks like Madame Hooch is giving them the rules on fairness, the snitch is released, and it's gone…" Celia heard a whistle being blown and suddenly the commentary got really fast.

"The quaffle is up, Gryffindor in possession, Johnson, to Bell, back to Johnson, Spinnet, Spinnet rushes for the goal, she fakes and tosses back to Bell, who scores! 10 points to Gryffindor!" There was an intense amount of cheering again from the Gryffindor side, and half of the Ravenclaws. Most of the Slytherins were booing though. Lee was now commenting on the Hufflepuff team's advancement,

"Oh! A close call there, but a nice save by the Hufflepuff beater! She passes, dodges a bludger, whoa that was close! She shoots….A brilliant save by Weasley!" The girls exploded into cheers. Hermione was absolutely beaming that Ron had been able to stop the first shot. It would be much easier now. "Ok, Gryffindor in possession, no now Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff is really putting up a fight this year! Hufflepuff tries to pass, a perfectly aimed bludger by Fred, no George…wait that is Fred! They switched uniforms on us! Alright then, a perfectly aimed bludger by Fred Weasley and the quaffle is back in Gryffindor possession." Fred had aimed the bludger so that the Hufflepuff chaser would have to duck, just as the quaffle was leaving her hands, messing up her aim entirely, but not hitting her.

"Ok, Johnson to Spinnet, back to Johnson…the Hufflepuff chaser is rushing her… Angelina's dropped the ball! Oh wait, that was a pass, Bell was flying right beneath her, excellent play, Bell moves up the pitch…she shoots! Another 10 points for Gryffindor! Hufflepuff in possession, they are moving up the pitch, pass, pass shoot, whoa watch out for the bludger! Hey that was cheap!"

"Jordan no favoritism!"

"Sorry professor…despite the er- well despite everything, that was a brilliantly executed play by Hufflepuff, they receive 10 points and Gryffindor is back in possession…no sign of the snitch yet…" The Hufflepuff beaters had been hitting a bludger back and forth up the pitch following up their chaser, before the chaser shot, they fired the bludger down in Ron's direction causing him to need to dodge it and giving the chaser a free shot…it was a pretty good play.

"Gryffindor is in possession…shoot…oh rough luck, er- I mean I great save by Hufflepuff." The game went on for a while, with both teams doing rather well. Gryffindor was up by about 40 points when Harry suddenly accelerated towards the goal posts.

"Potter is speeding up! He may have seen the snitch!" Seeing Harry go rush off, the Hufflepuff seeker got on his tail and soon the two of them seemed to be following some routine of their own. They were both turning the same ways, but the snitch was barely visible from this far away. "They are chasing after the snitch as the game goes on above! Hufflepuff in, no Gryffindor, back to Hufflepuff, pass pass, Johnson intercepted, oh she lost it, Hufflepuff shoots…..Another excellent save by Weasley. He passes it out to Spinnet, she takes off, whoa close one there, shoots, oh too bad…"

"Jordan!"

"Er- to bad more people couldn't see that amazing save I mean!" Celia couldn't help but laugh at the ongoing battle between Lee and Professor McGonagall.

"The seekers zoom left, right, lower, left, whoa they have moved in to a vertical ascent, right, left, Potter reaches out, watch that bludger! That was close! Potter regains control and dives, he's coming down pretty fast…he's still diving, whoa he barely pulls out of it, he is practically in the ground now, up a bit, speeds up, oh nice check…ok the seekers are neck-and-neck…Potter reaches, almost they both grab…someone's got it! It's Potter! Harry Potter catches the snitch for one hundred and fifty points to win the game!"

The stands exploded in cheering so much that the Slytherin team could no longer be heard. The teams were shaking hands now and the stands were clearing in order to go congratulate the team. The girls got up as well and headed down to the pitch.

"That was great!" Hermione yelled to Ron when they got down there!

"Yeah! You were awesome!" Celia added. Ron looked very red, but he was beaming.

"Thanks." He said, trying to sound casual.

"Hey, I did a good job too." George said coming up behind the girls.

"Yeah what about us?" Fred added. Celia smiled,

"You guys were great too, I was so glad that your bludger didn't hit that girl!" Celia exclaimed, talking to Fred.

"Yeah, well there was no real need to hit her; I just needed to throw her off is all. No need to split her head open." He answered. Harry had come over now too

"Ron that was a great game! You were brilliant!"

"Brilliant catch Harry, really." Ron answered. Celia nodded in agreement. The whole game had been excellent.

Finally, the boys went to the locker room for a team talk and to change, and the girls headed back up to the castle and would meet them there.

The Gryffindor common room had turned into an all-day victory party, though a lot of the fervor died down after the butterbeer was gone. Eventually, it was only the team and Hermione, Ginny and Celia that were left in the room, and a few diehards like Lee.

"That was really amazing." Celia said, now for the 10th time. Though her energy was diminishing somewhat. The group had moved over to the couches near the fireplace and they were all just sitting around the room. Harry and Ron started talking about something and Fred and George joined in. Celia remembered listening to the sound of their voices as she drifted off to sleep.

_"So…you have finally arrived. Step forward Alana. Alana."_

"Celia, Celia, wake up," Someone was shaking her gently. "Celia." Celia opened her eyes and saw Fred leaning over her. The room was empty except for him.

"Huh? What's going on, where is everyone?" She asked groggily.

"You fell asleep," He told her. "Everyone headed up stairs already, it's past midnight."

"Oh." Celia said, nodding. She sat up and Fred sat next to her on the couch. She couldn't get it out of her head. 'Who's Alana? What was that all about?' She wondered.

"Alright?" Fred was asking her. She must have zoned off.

"Hmm? Oh, yes I'm fine, it's just that…well…while I was sleeping I heard a woman's voice in my head, and I am trying to make sense of it."

"Well, what did she say?"

"She said, 'So, you have finally arrived, step forward Alana.'" She took a glance at Fred. "Yeah, I know, that was my thought exactly." She said, laughing at the look on his face. "Maybe I am just spending too much time focused on that legend. I don't know why, but for some reason- I feel as though, it's like I am drawn to it or something. I dunno, does this make any sense?"

"Sure, I guess…ok well no actually, you sound a bit mental, but that can be fixed." Celia couldn't help but laugh at that. It was true, she sounded crazy, even to herself. But there was something about it that drove her curiosity. And that wasn't all, she felt as though the others had to know about it somehow.

"What a week it has been." Celia said aloud. "With Harry nearly killing himself, then me nearly killing myself, and then those dreams…and Malfoy! What was that all about?"

Two things from those sentences caught his attention, first was the mention of the dreams, and second was the mention of

"Malfoy? What the bloody hell have you been bothering with that ol' git for?"

"Well, he's nice to me…well until recently anyway, he was in the hospital wing that day that I healed Harry, and I was having this horrible dream and he heard me talking in my sleep and woke me up and all…but then, I just mentioned the muggle world, just _mentioned_ it, and all of a sudden he looks at me as though I've got troll snot coming from my eyeballs and leaves the room muttering!" Celia got angry again just thinking about it.

"You come from a muggle family, that's his problem. They're all the same, that sort; think they're better than the rest of the world just because they've got 'pure blood.' Can't stand the site of anyone less than that, they think they ought not to be here. He's a stupid git Celia; don't let him get to you. Back in my 3rd year he had Ron puking up slugs because he tried to defend Hermione after her called her a mudblood."

"What?"

"Yeah, that's right, wasn't really his fault though, Ron's wand was rubbish, backfired on everyone, drove the Defense of the Dark Arts professor mad."

"Mad? Why? Was it that bad in class?"

"No I mean really mad, he tried to obliterate Harry and Ron's memory, only he was using Ron's wand, and he got the brunt of the spell instead." Celia went into hysterics. Fred smiled at her. "Don't let that git get to you, come on, you ought to get to bed." Fred said standing and reaching down to grab Celia's arms. Celia let Fred pull her up, and then she realized that she had in fact been lying down for quite some time as she got a little dizzy and stumbled forward into Fred. He caught her and for a moment they just looked at each other. It seemed as though it took a minute for the two of them to realize how close they were just then and Celia moved away a little feeling her face flush. She chanced a glance at him and noticed that he had a strange look on his face. He was looking at her differently than usual. Celia found herself unable to look away from him, and then unwilling. Fred smiled at her.

"Goodnight Cel." He said. Celia smiled back at him, a little thrown off by her feelings and somewhat disappointed, but she smiled none the less genuinely because she knew that she wasn't the only one who knew that something had just passed between them. A silent sort of appreciation.

"Goodnight Fred." She said, heading up the stairs to bed.

Sunday morning, Celia slept in. When she finally woke up and went down to the common room she noticed that a fair amount of people were awake. Hermione and Ginny had both already gone down. Ginny was still in her pajamas while Hermione had gotten dressed in some casual clothes. Ron and Harry were sitting on the floor, both still wearing pajamas, playing a game of chess and no one had heard from the twins yet.

"'Morning sleepy head!" Hermione called when she saw Celia come down stairs. "What time did you finally come up last night?"

"About 1:00." Celia turned and saw Fred and George coming down the stairs, they also were in their pajamas.

"Honestly!" Hermione began. "Am I the only one who remembered to get dressed this morning?" She said somewhat teasingly.

"If you can call those clothes." Ron retorted. "Check." Celia giggled. Hermione had in fact gotten dressed, but she was wearing sweat pants and a tee-shirt. It was something she could have worn to bed. Her hair had been tamed though, so she had obviously put some effort into it, opposed to everyone else. There was a loud sound of clay being hit and broken. Celia jumped slightly and looked over in the direction of Ron and Harry. One of the white knights had just been clobbered and removed from the chessboard. Celia's eyes went wide as Ron's bishop dragged Harry's knight off the board and took its place.

"I had to do it," Harry began, almost sounding apologetic and speaking to the knight in question. "There was no other way to save the king. Queen to F3." Celia's mouth dropped as Harry's queen moved over to Ron's bishop and beheaded it. Ron flinched.

"Sorry mate," he said to the headless chess piece "I honestly didn't see that one coming. You're getting pretty good at this Harry."

"What kind of a chess game is that?!" Celia asked, no longer able to keep her mouth shut.

"See? I _told_ you it was barbaric!" Hermione toned. "'That's wizard's chess'" She added, mocking Ron, who made a face at her. Celia laughed at them and moved closer to the board to watch the game. Harry's queen went on to take Ron's knight and then his face blanched as though he had just made a horrible mistake.

"I can't believe it! You tricked me! You tricked me and I fell right into it!" Harry complained as Ron's remaining bishop took Harry's king. Ron was beaming.

"Never ever use that strategy again Ron!" Hermione said. Celia turned to see that her face had also gone white.

"Um, ok I know I'm new to the wizarding world, but is there any reason why that move is so horrible?" They all fell a little silent, and then Harry spoke up.

"Well, if someone was say, standing in the knight's square when the queen took it out, they might be in considerable danger er- health wise." He said, glancing at Ron. Celia looked around the room. Ron was looking down, Hermione was looking at Ron. Ginny looked like this was a story she'd only heard, and it wasn't one she liked to think about. The twins were looking at their brother as though proud, while Harry looked as though he felt somehow to blame.

"But -"

"It happened if first year." Ron started. "There was, well let's just say it was really important that we get passed this chess game, and the fastest way to do that was to sacrifice a knight."

"It happened just like the game we just played." Harry continued. "Only Ron was standing in the knight's square, so, the queen hit him instead of just a chess piece."

"And Ron's fine now, so can we not talk about it. I don't want to remember." Hermione toned in, looking very much like it was a memory that still frightened her.

"Fair enough." Celia said, "Why don't we all head down to breakfast?"

"Yeah, I suppose it's time we all got dressed isn't it." Ginny agreed getting up to head to the dorm. "Coming Hermione?" She said, teasing. Hermione made a face at her, and when Celia and Ginny were a few stairs up, appeared at the bottom and followed them. For the rest of the day, the Gryffindors relaxed and got their work done for the start of another week.

That night, Celia had another dream. It wasn't as easy to follow as the last had been though. This one was in the present time, and she and all her friends were in it. She couldn't see them, but she was aware of their presence. There was not much else that she was aware of. The dream was in scattered bits of screaming and green light.

__

"Now Alana!"

"Foolish Child" "Expelliarmus!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Celia No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Celia woke up in the middle of the night with a start. 'That name again!' Celia thought. 'Who is Alana? And who was that voice?' She knew that it had to do with the legend, and that the Alana from the dream was the same Alana from the legend, but why? Why was she having these dreams? Pegasus flew in the window and onto her lap as she lay in bed. Celia pet her absent-mindedly. 'I don't understand.' Celia thought.

__

'You will…soon, you will understand.'

The voice was only in her head, she knew that, but still it urked her. She looked at Pegasus as she sat on her lap. The phowl was looking directly into her eyes. "What are you trying to tell me Pegasus?" She asked aloud. There was yawning from the bed next to her.

"Celia, who are you talking to?" Hermione asked. Celia broke her eye contact with Pegasus to answer Hermione.

"Oh, just Pegasus. Sometimes I feel like she can understand me." For a moment, Hermione looked like she thought Celia was mental, but then she shrugged.

"Well, you remember what you told me about what Hagrid said; phowls can sometimes have that kind of relationship with their owners can't they?" Celia nodded and continued to get ready not thinking about Pegasus.

Celia and the others went to breakfast and then headed off to their classes for the day. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Celia walked to History of Magic, and on the way, Celia caught eyes with Draco, he scowled at her and she saddened and turned away. The 3 went through History of Magic, Transfigurations and Herbology and then split ways when Celia headed down to Care of Magical Creatures with the twins.

"Good afternoon!" Hagrid started cheerily. "Today, we are going to be startin' somthin' new. We're startin' jobberknolls," There was some talk among the students. "Troublesome little devils, but they're alrigh'. Now, the thing about jobberknolls is they never make a sound from the time they're born for their 'ole life. Then right before they die they let out a long yell, and that's when they repeat everything they've heard up to that point. Now, I want you all to form groups, and I'll go get them." Hagrid walked around to the back of his hut, and Celia looked at Fred and George. It was pretty much a given that they would be in the same group, but no one knew how big of groups Hagrid wanted formed. Hagrid was now coming back around the house carrying 2 very large crates. Inside the crates seemed to be levels, and on each level were rows of nests.

"Um- Hagrid, are we going to be keeping these er- all year?" One of the more brave students asked.

"O'course not!" Hagrid answered, many students seemed to calm down. "They won't be living that long, these one's have a pretty short life span. But you will have teh keep good care of 'em until then," The surrounding students looked as though that was not the answer they'd been hoping for. Celia assumed that there were quite a few secrets that people didn't want getting out. "Alrigh' then, we've got quite a lot of them, and the jobberknolls get on better if they develop a stronger relationship with their caretakers so there'll be two to a group only, and you two can't go pairing up" he said, pointing to Fred and George. "that's the last thing they need, prolly give the poor souls a complex about it…alrigh' if you've got a partner come get your bird." Hagrid went on. Some pairs of kids were already set so a line was starting to form near the birds. Celia looked back and forth between Fred and George.

"Well, I don't mind either one of you, so you'll have to fight amongst yourselves over it." She said teasingly. In the end, George ended up pairing up with Lee and Celia paired up with Fred. Once everyone had gotten their birds they settled down while Hagrid went over the proper care of the jobberknolls.

"Well, this ought to be interesting." Fred said as the group of them walked back up to the castle for lunch.

"I'm going to go bring this up to the dorm; I'll meet you guys in charms k?" Celia said once she finished, taking hold of her and Fred's jobberknoll. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all nodded and Celia headed up to the room. When she got into the room there was a woman sitting on her bed. She had silvery hair and was wearing a white dress with silver glitter on it. Celia stood amazed of the woman, but more amazed of the fact that she knew who it was.

"…Pegasus?" The woman nodded.

"I have been watching you Alana…it seems you truly have arrived. I wanted to be sure before I came forward; sure you were truly able to take your place."

"I don't understand." Celia said, still surprised that this situation didn't shock her.

"Yes you do. You understand more than you think. Close your eyes and search yourself. You know who you are…"

"…Alana." They both said together. Pegasus continued. "That's right; you are her, the child that everyone was waiting for." Celia slowly sat down on the bed. "When I was sent to you and saw how you had managed to find the descendants of the Aude I thought then that you were the one, but I wasn't sure. When you healed that boy I knew you were capable. But I wasn't completely sure that it was you until you had the dreams." Celia sat in wonder of what she was being told.

"So then, the Weasley's…and Harry and Hermione…" Pegasus nodded.

"They are each descendants of the Aude Arlene. The group of witches and wizards who sought to find you and assist you in the fight against the dark wizard. But you didn't come in their time, and their spirits were passed on through the ages until the day that you arrived. And now, that day has finally come." Celia took it all in. She was the savior, and all her friends were the descendants of those who were destined to help her.

"Okay…what about you? Who-what are you? Are you human?" Pegasus smiled.

"No, not really. As you know, my kind is a mix of owl and phoenix. Many phoenixes have the ability to take a human form. I am descendant of one such phoenix."

"So, you really are a bird then? That's amazing!" Pegasus smiled a knowing smile and Celia wondered just how much her pet knew. Celia got the feeling that she meant to tell her something more. "So what happens now?" Celia asked. "I mean, being Alana, don't I have to battles the dark wizard?" Pegasus put her arms on Celia's shoulders.

"All in good time Alana, thing have not yet all fallen into place. You just continue doing what it is that you do. When the time comes that you are needed, you will know." Celia nodded. She had some more questions but she didn't have time to ask for Pegasus had begun to shine so that Celia could no longer look at her. When she reopened her eyes, she was a bird again.

_"I will be watching over you…Alana." _Pegasus said, sending the words right into her mind. And then she turned and flew away. Celia watched her leave and then realized that she was horribly late for class. She gathered her things and made sure her jobberknoll was in a place where it wouldn't get hurt and sprinted to Charms. When she got there, it was relatively empty. Harry, Ron and Hermione came in behind her.

"Wow, Celia you beat us here…whoa you didn't have to run you know; you still had plenty of time before class when you left." Celia stared at them flabbergasted.

"But - I - what time is it?" Hermione told her the time and she was amazed.

__

'That's not possible.' she thought. _'That's only 5 minutes after I left, but I was up with Pegasus for at least 20! "Pegasus! Did you do this?" "I told you I would be watching over you. Have fun in class Alana." ' _Celia stood for a moment in shock. When she finally recovered Hermione was giggling.

__

"Come on, Celia," she said between laughs "let's go sit down."Celia nodded and followed Hermione to her seat. She was unable to focus for the rest of her classes that day. 

A/N: So what did you think? Thanks to FlyingPurpleCat, Puck Silverbreeze, Frisbee400, Prongz, Safarii-Phoenix, and David M. Potter for your reviews I hope to get the next chapter up really soon. Please review!!

Moonz


	16. Christmas Break

Author's Note: Here it is everyone, the next chapter, I am sorry that it took so long, I hope you like it…I would like to remind/let everyone know, that I started writing this before the 5th book came out but when it did come out, I just left the story as it, so read this story as though the 5th book didn't happen. Thanks. Please read and review!!! And now, on to:

Chapter 16: Christmas Break

Celia went through the rest of the week in kind of a haze. She wanted to tell everyone right away, but every time it came to it, something else came up. She hadn't spoken with Pegasus in human form since that night, and she had already decided that she wouldn't tell the others about Pegasus' abilities. On Saturday morning, she woke up earlier than expected and couldn't get back to sleep. She grabbed her diary and went down to the common room in order to not disturb her dorm mates. She was pleased to find that a fire was burning in the fireplace as she took a seat in a big chair and started to write.

"There you see? I told you a pensieve was what you needed." Celia smiled without looking up from her diary.

"Morning George, what are you doing up so early?" She asked. Finishing her sentence and closing her book. He shrugged.

"Couldn't fall back to sleep. Same for you?" He asked. Celia nodded. "Well, let's have it then, what's been on your mind?"

Celia shrugged.

"I don't know exactly. It's kind of hard to explain it all."

"I know something's been on your mind, you've been off all week. Fred and I have noticed, but we didn't want to say anything. You sure you're alright?" George asked her. Celia thought for a minute. Was she alright? When an answer came to her, it calmed her and made her smile.

"No, no I'm not sure. But I believe that I will be." She said, a serene look on her face.

It had snowed overnight and the group of Gryffindors spent a good amount of the day outside. The twins had started making a snowman when, at some point, a snowball was thrown and a mighty war ensued. Something in the air had affected them all and Celia noticed that they all seemed quite carefree. It was as though they had all become children again. As her mind was wandering on this thought she forgot to watch her guard and got hit in the waist by a snowball. She looked up to see Ron smirking in her direction, a distraction which got him hit in the shoulder by Hermione which in turn led to a snowy chase between the two which ended in both of them being covered in snow. Celia laughed at the pair of them and she herself got side attacked by Fred. It took her a minute to realize that she was now lying on the ground covered in snow before she started laughing. She turned to see Fred laughing next to her, grabbed some now, and threw it in his face before getting up and running away. In a couple of hours, the group of Gryffindors were all lying in the snow in a circle laughing and wondering who would go numb first.

A few days later, the general population of the school had all headed home for Christmas break. Harry, as tradition would have it, remained at school as did Ron and Hermione. Celia had received notice from her parents that they would come and visit her at school over Christmas as they would love to see Dumbledore again and they wanted to see what the school was like. In response to this, Fred, George and Ginny sent word home that they too wanted to stay at school over break. Mr. & Mrs. Weasley sent notice to Dumbledore that since the majority of their children were staying at school over break, they too would be coming to visit on Christmas day and Dumbledore seemed quite pleased to have such a turn out for the holiday feast. Hermione started muttering something about more work for the house elves but Fred and George assured her that they were absolutely beaming about the whole event. The idea of spending Christmas with all her friends had given Celia a never-ending cheer, not even the scowl that Malfoy gave her on his way out of school could bring her down.

Celia had not directly spoken with Pegasus since the first day that they spoke, nor had she mentioned anything to her friends. She was having mixed feelings about the whole experience. Part of her wanted to tell them right away, but another part of her wanted to keep them out of it entirely. She didn't want them risking their lives on her account.

The first day of break felt amazing to Celia. She woke up and simply lay in bed out of sheer joy that she didn't need to wake up. About an hour later Hermione woke up and started moving about. When Celia sat up to see what she was doing she noticed that she had books out. Celia moaned and threw a pillow at her friend.

"'mione what are you doing? It's the first day of Christmas break for cryin' out loud, can't you at least be happy for a day without bringing homework into the equation?" Hermione chucked the pillow back at her.

"Well, it does have to be done! And I for one would rather get it out of the way now so that later on I will have more time to spend with everyone and won't have to worry about it."

"Later, when? Towards the end of break when we're all doing our work? What fun will that be?" In a spring of playfulness, Celia jumped out of bed and grabbed Hermione's books and ran down to the common room, she could hear her friend bounding down the stairs after her. "No! You can't have them Hermione! It's for your own good!"

"Celia! Give those back!"

"What the bloody hell is going on in here?" Ron asked from the stairs, Harry slumping down behind him.

"Celia!"

"Hermione started doing work!"

"Has she finished the potions essay yet? Because I'm likely going to have to copy that."

"Oh no you don't Ron! Honestly, how do you expect to pass your exams?"

"He won't have to, once they realize that he's clever enough to invent a potion to fight against those anti-cheating quills they'll see he's a genius and let him pass." Fred and George came in through the portrait hole.

"What were you two doing up so early?" Celia asked, her guard of Hermione's books dropping out of surprise. Hermione grabbed the opportunity. When Celia realized Hermione had gotten her books back she whipped her head back around in more surprise.

"Hermione! It's not healthy!" Celia said, trying to keep a straight face.

"Ah, she'll never change, might as well let her be. You run along and do your work Hermione, we'll just be down here drinking butterbeer and playing exploding snaps…" Fred said, walking to the table where George was starting to empty his pockets full of Honeydukes candy.

"Where did you get all that?" Celia asked.

"Is this why you were up so early?" Hermione added. Fred and George smirked and Harry and Ron, who had learned not to question the twins on any matter, ever, sat down around the table and took their share of sweets.

"Well, we do have a month to do it all." Hermione said, submitting and putting her books down. "And I did already get that essay half done. So I suppose I could take the day off." Celia smiled at her as she sat down and took a butterbeer and nearly choked on a piece of candy when she saw the way Ron was staring at Hermione, seemingly in awe of her prowess as an essay-writer.

The Gryffindors enjoyed the first half of their day in their own common room, not all of them bothering to get dressed, playing games of exploding snap and wizard's chess. Celia showed a natural talent for the game and by lunch time she was able to beat Harry at the game. Ron, however, had beaten her flat about 7 times even. After lunch the group of them divided into smaller groups, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione heading down to visit Hagrid, the twins heading off to do something twinny, and Ginny and Celia, left to their own devices, headed to the library to see if they could find any more information on the legend. Researching with Ginny, Celia suddenly felt quite guilty about keeping what she knew a secret from everyone. Finally, she decided it was time to tell her what she knew.

"Er- Ginny, I, I have something that I need to tell you." Ginny looked up curiously, hearing the hesitation in Celia's voice. "I, I know who the Aude Arlene is, I know who the savior is too. I found out a little over a week ago and I didn't want to say anything because…well, I was scared." Ginny didn't say anything, but she looked at Celia urging her to go on. "It, It's me Gin, I'm the savior and you all are the Aude Arlene, you, Fred and George, Hermione, Ron and Harry. It's us." For a moment there was silence between them before Ginny said something.

"How do you know?"

"There's something else you should know…"

Celia and Ginny went to the owlery and Celia called Pegasus to her.

"Pegasus, I would like you to meet Ginny. Ginny, this is Pegasus. She's how I found out." Ginny was looking at Celia as though flowers were growing on her head.

"Cel…" Ginny began, but Celia interrupted her.

"I know it sounds crazy, but…well…" She turned to look Pegasus in the eye and pleaded with her to show her true form.

_'If you are sure Alana.'_

'I am sure.' At that moment, Pegasus began to glow again, just as she had that first night. When the light faded, Ginny and Celia were looking upon the human form of Pegasus, for the first time and again.

"Hello Ginerva, it is nice to meet you in person."

"She knew my name, my real name, Celia how did she know my real name?" Ginny asked, obviously taken for a loop with this new twist.

"Don't worry; it is natural for you to be confused. You are a descendent of a member of the Aude Arlene, the group of witches and wizards that were to wait for the savior to arrive, and to assist her when the time came. That time, apparently is upon us now, nearly all the elements have gathered together." Pegasus now turned to address Celia. "Alana, have you told the others?" Celia shook her head.

"No, no I haven't, I didn't, I was afraid to get them involved in all this, but then in the library, we were researching the legend, and I didn't want to keep it secret anymore." Pegasus was looking at her with knowing eyes.

"You need to tell them Alana, they will need time to prepare, time to adjust. It is better for you to tell them."

"Isn't there a way it can be done without their help?"

"It is not certain, no one's fate is. But I think that the truth always helps to keep people alive. Lies will only lead to unpredictability and a lack of trust. You cannot afford to have that Alana. You must tell them who they are. After that, it is up to them if they want to follow through or not."

Pegasus turned away, preparing to return to her phowl form and then spoke again. "Fate does not have absolute control of life. It merely turns the steering wheel. It is for you to decide, whether you want to step on the gas." With that, Pegasus began to glow again and when the light dimmed, she flew back up to her perch.

That night in the common room, Celia sat down all her friends in front of the fire and told them what she had been hiding.

"…that's why I was running." Celia said to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "I had been speaking with Pegasus for at least half an hour, I thought I was really late, but apparently, Pegasus can play with time too."

After she had told them, they had all gotten a little quiet. It was a strange quiet though, it seemed as though they were not in the least surprised. Harry was the first to speak up.

"I, have something to tell everyone too." He definitely had all the attention. "Over the summer, I had had these...dreams."

"Harry, why didn't you tell us?" Hermione asked, clearly thinking that Ron had not known about the dreams either. Harry became a bit quiet at this question.

"He did, well, he told me." Ron said, looking at Hermione, "He didn't tell you because he didn't want to frighten you, but he's stopped now, the dreams have stopped, so -"

"Frighten me how?" Hermione asked, clearly not planning on letting go on the subject. Harry had re-found his voice.

"In the dreams….you, you were killed….by Voldemort." The air in the room suddenly became nervous and cold. Celia felt it straight to her bones. Hermione, despite her best efforts, looked frightened.

"But he stopped having them, so it's all ok now." Ron repeated. "Sirius told him to send word if the dreams continued but they stopped when Hermione got there-"

"What?" Now it was Celia's turn to interrupt. Everyone was looking at her again, but she was looking back and forth from Ron to Harry.

"The dreams stopped coming around the same time that Hermione arrived at Ron's house, I guess it wasn't safe wherever she was…" Celia didn't catch the last part of the sentence, her hearing had gone bleary, and for some reason all she could think of was the prank that the twins decided to play on Hermione when they first arrived with the invisible car.

"The day that I got there…" She said finally.

"What?" Ron and Harry both asked.

"I got there the same day that Hermione did. Your dreams stopped the first day that all of us were together. I don't know why, but I am sure that that has something to do with it. I think that whatever was going to happen to Hermione changed because we all finally were able to meet. Think about it, it makes sense."

There was a kind of silent understanding going on in the room. Suddenly, a lot was starting to make sense, the way that they all got along, the feeling of closeness that they shared, finally, even Celia's dreams about the past made sense. The reason why Celia cared so deeply for Garret in her first dream…she was almost sure of it. The emotion swelled up in her all of a sudden as though she had just now been granted the ability to feel. She was just as emotionally attached to Garret as she was to everyone in this room; his death was to her, just like one of her own friends. Celia pledged silently to herself in that moment that she would never witness nor feel that again. She would not watch her friends die. Even if it meant the loss of her own life. They would not die.

A/N: I hope you liked it! I finally got it up, I am sorry it took so long, I was busy with school and such. I am on Christmas Break now, so I should be able to get another chapter up soon. Please let me know what you think of the story!!! Thank you to all my reviewers! I Love hearing from you! Happy Holidays to everyone! Please review!


	17. The Ties That Bind

Author's Note: I won't say much here, read after the chapter, sorry for the delay everyone. And now, here it is!

Chapter 17: The Ties that Bind

After that night, the group of Gryffindors felt a closeness among them like they had never felt before. They thought before that they had been comfortable with each other, but now they flowed. None of them questioned any of their actions with the rest of the group any longer, suddenly they just all fit.

"My Celia, it's so nice to see that you've made so many new friends already." Celia's mother was saying at Christmas dinner. Her father looked at her and gave her a smile that was just for her. Celia smiled back at him knowingly. Mr. Weasley seemed only too happy to see the heads of the Alanus family. He had a rather lengthy conversation with Celia's father and mother about all sorts of things, seemingly nearly everything that he had asked Celia, only with further detail. Celia's mother on the other hand, was thrilled at the idea of a clock that kept track of the Weasley family.

"…it's quite a help when you've got 7 children to worry over I can tell you that much, and with Charlie off in Romania working with the dragons…well it's nice to know for sure that he's alright…" Mrs. Weasley was saying. Celia's mother nodding empathetically and hanging on every word. Celia took a look at Fred, who was on her right and the two shared a laugh about it, a laugh which slowly spread down the line of Gryffindors as each of them caught on.

"What are you lot laughing at?" Mrs. Weasley asked, eying the twins suspiciously. This sent them all snickering even louder and more than one of them caught that familiar twinkle in Dumbledore's eye. The situation made Celia smile and when they had all calmed down enough Celia made her happiness known.

"You know, it's nice, having everyone together like this on Christmas. It's really nice." This comment was responded to with smiles and grunts of agreement around the table as the group of them continued munching on their ham and sweet potatoes, and drinking their cider. The House Elves had prepared for them a lovely feast and afterward, the table cleared itself and was soon filled with all sorts of delicious desserts securing the fact that everyone present would be going to sleep full that night.

Mr. Mrs. Weasley, along with Celia's parents, stayed at Hogwarts for a couple of more days before starting on their journey home. Having all finished their holiday work, the group of Gryffindors were free for the remainder of their break to do as they pleased, and no longer having a need to do any research on the legend of Alana, they found that they had more free time than they knew what to do with. During this time, Celia, along with the others, enjoyed this new feeling of closeness among her and her friends, but none so much as Fred. She had begun to develop some what of a soft spot for him, though she didn't entirely know why. On one night in particular she decided that she would take a walk alone on the grounds. It had been some time since she had done this. Celia thought back over everything that had happened to her since she came here. The pain she felt at the end of last year had dissipated long ago, and now she was left with a mended, but empty heart. Celia sighed and thought instead about what was to come. What was in store for her. As the savior, it would be her job to defeat Voldemort, but how would she do that? She had heard all the stories that the Weasley children knew about Voldemort and he frightened her. How was she supposed to fight him? Surely he would kill her easily. How could she protect her friends from harm if she was dead? These thoughts swirled through Celia's mind as she sat outside under a tree. She felt colder suddenly, she was filled with dread. All she could think of and all she could see in her mind were her friends dying. All of them were dying in front of her eyes and she could do nothing to stop it. There was a strangled breathing coming from the trees and Celia whipped her head around to see what it was.

Nothing.

She stared at the trees, straining to see what it was that was watching her. All of her senses were alerted to everything around her. Still nothing. It was so quiet, too quiet in fact, why was it so quiet? Then, finally, someone grabbed her shoulder.

Celia whipped around ready to strike and she trained her wand on…Fred. Suddenly, she was aware that her heart started beating again. She exhaled and continued to take deep breaths as her senses calmed down.

"Been looking all over for you." Fred told her, looking as though he was also trying to recover from her shock.

"You scared the daylights out of me." She managed, holding her chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but you've got to come in side, you'll freeze." He said, still looking as though she had scared him as well. "Your lips are turning purple you know," He told her casually as he tucked her under his arm inside his coat and lead her toward the castle.

When they got back to the Gryffindor Common room it was quiet. It looked as though everyone had gone to sleep. She must have been out there for a while. Shivering, Celia headed over to the fireplace and sat in front of it. Fred went to the stairs and came back down with a very thick blanket. As she sat by the fire she began to warm up. Her entire body felt solid. Fred came over to join her and finally feeling warmer she sighed, her muscles relaxing, and rested on her elbows.

"You warm enough now?" Fred asked sitting next to her. Celia smiled and nodded up at him. Just then she shivered again. Fred laughed and looked at her skeptically.

"You know how when you are really cold, and then you are warm you get that weird chill?" Fred nodded and grabbing the blanket, he moved towards her and wrapped it around her shivering body rubbing her arms trying to warm her. For a while they just sat there in silence. Finally, Fred spoke up.

"Celia, what were you doing out there by yourself?"

"I was just thinking."

"Just…I was just, thinking, about the Legend, about who we are, and I got to thinking, 'what am I going to do?' I mean, the savior, Alana, is me, I'm supposed to defeat the dark wizard once and for all, how am I supposed to do that? I'm only 17. He'll kill me easily! And if that happens…I mean, what will happen to all of you? I'm going to die and then so many will follow after me. And it'll be all my fault!" Celia paused, and Fred searched desperately for something to say.

"And what about all the people whose lives have already been hurt? I feel like so much could have been avoided if only I'd shown up earlier, I mean, Garret's death, and Harry's parents, all the people that have been hurt by dark wizards, none of it would have happened if it wasn't for me!" At some point, Celia had started crying. Fred held her to him trying to think of some way to calm her.

"Shhhhh, it's alright Celia, it's alright, it's not your fault." He coaxed, hugging her and rubbing her back. "It's not your fault, you had no control over it. It's ok." It was a minute before she calmed down again and was able to talk.

"I just, I am so afraid that something will happen to someone that I care about, and I won't be able to help them." Celia looked up at Fred and started tearing again remembering what she had seen out on the grounds. "I don't care if something happens to me, but I couldn't bear to watch any of you suffer. I just can't!" Celia began to tear again; a sight that Fred was quickly learning he hated to see.

"C'mon Cel, don't cry," He began, pulling her into a hug. Celia wrapped her arms around his neck and cried against his chest. Fred tried to comfort her again, resting his chin on the top of her head. "C'mon, it'll be okay. Nothing is going to happen to us, alright? You'll see. No one is suffering."

"Hey, come on, look at me, look." He said, pulling her back enough so that he could see her face. He took one hand and wiped the tears away from under her eye with his thumb. "Nothing is going to happen to any of us, not you, not me, not Ron, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, or George. We're all going to be fine." Celia found a kind of strength in his eyes that she needed to hold on to.

"You promise?" She asked, feeling that she sounded very much like a frightened child. Fred's hand had moved from her face to her shoulder, right where her shoulder ended and her neck began.

"I promise." He told her, his eyes not wavering for a second. This kiss that followed brought out a feeling in Celia that she wasn't sure she had ever felt before. Suddenly, she wasn't afraid anymore. She felt part of herself leave and get filled up by something else, and it calmed her from the inside out. All the pain from her past life left without a trace. It was as though she was breathing him in. When she finally opened her eyes, Fred was looking at her with bemused look on his face. She imagined that she must have had the same one on hers.

"Wow…" she managed to get out. Fred nodded slowly.

"Wow," He answered. For a minute the two sat silently with each other. "Feeling better?" Fred finally asked. Celia smiled.

"Yeah, thanks for that."

"Anytime." he answered, his bemused grin turning into a smirk. Celia grabbed a pillow and hit him with it playfully, and the two declared war. After realizing that any escalation in noise level would probably summon Professor McGonagall to the common room. The two said their goodnights and headed off to bed. That night, Celia went to sleep with a smile on her face.

Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Harry were all in the common room. Fred and George were talking quietly among themselves and Ginny was watching Ron and Harry try to teach Hermione how to play wizards' chess. After all their parents had left, Celia had gone to speak with Dumbledore for a while and the rest of them came back up to the common room. When everyone headed off to bed. Fred told them that he was going to see what was taking Celia so long. For some reason he had a weird feeling. After Dumbledore told him that Celia had left his office some time ago, the weird feeling got weirder. He tried to think of where she would go. After checking the library, the kitchens, and the transfiguration department, he ran to get his coat and left the castle. It was freezing and very windy out, if she was out here, she would be frozen by now. As he neared the Lake, he got a chill up his spine. He really wanted to find her. As he got nearer, he could hear it. The rasping, and there she was, standing in the cold, no jacket, she looked tense, staring into the forest. Hoping to break her from whatever she might have been seeing or feeling, Fred grabbed her arm and she wheeled around, wand drawn. He wasn't expecting her to react so quickly and he realized that the intake of breath he had heard was his own. When she saw him, she exhaled and her body relaxed.

"Been looking all over for you." Fred told her, still recovering from the shock of her turning so quickly.

"You scared the daylights out of me." She managed, holding her chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but you've got to come inside, you'll freeze." He told her, choosing to omit the part about the dementors, she wouldn't know what they were and he didn't want to mention it at the moment. "Your lips are turning purple you know," He said, pulling her into his coat and leading her back towards the castle.

When they got back to the Gryffindor Common room Celia headed over to the fireplace and sat in front of it. Fred ran up to his room to put his coat away and he grabbed the blanket from his bed.

"You find her?" George asked, raising his head from his pillow. Fred nodded, and George was back asleep in an instant. When he got back down, Celia was by the fire, looking like she was warming up. He went over to join her and she sighed, and rested on her elbows.

"You warm enough now?" Fred asked sitting next to her. Celia smiled and nodded up at him. Just then she shivered again. Fred laughed and looked at her skeptically.

"You know how when you are really cold, and then you are warm you get that weird chill?" Fred nodded and grabbing the blanket, he moved towards her and wrapped it around her shivering body rubbing her arms trying to warm her. For a while they just sat there in silence. Despite his efforts, his thoughts kept going back to one question.

"Celia, what were you doing out there by yourself?"

"I was just thinking." Something didn't sound right. Something in her voice.

"About?" He didn't want her to keep this inside, whatever it was.

"Just…I was just, thinking, about the Legend, about who we are, and I got to thinking, 'what am I going to do?' I mean, the savior, Alana, is me, I'm supposed to defeat the dark wizard once and for all, how am I supposed to do that? I'm only 17..." Fred listened as Celia told him all her concerns and fears. He had to admit it was all a little overwhelming. But, She didn't have to worry about this. It shouldn't be all on her, that's what the rest of them were for. "… And it'll be all my fault!" Celia paused, and Fred searched desperately for something to say that would comfort her.

"And what about all the people whose lives have already been hurt? I feel like so much could have been avoided if only I'd shown up earlier, I mean, Garret's death, and Harry's parents, all the people that have been hurt by dark wizards, none of it would have happened if it wasn't for me!" Celia started to cry and Fred pulled her to him. He wished he could think of some way to calm her.

"Shhhhh, it's alright Celia, it's alright, it's not your fault." He coaxed, hugging her and rubbing her back. "It's not your fault, you had no control over it. It's ok." It was a minute before she calmed down again and was able to talk and in that minute, Fred was realizing something else about her, something about they way he felt about her.

"I just, I am so afraid that something will happen to someone that I care about, and I won't be able to help them." Celia looked up at him and he could see tears forming in her eyes. It killed him to see her like this. He couldn't understand it, but he wanted to stop her tears more than anything right then. "I don't care if something happens to me, but I couldn't bear to watch any of you suffer. I just can't!" Celia began to cry again and Fred tried to calm her again.

"C'mon Cel, don't cry," He began, pulling her into a hug. Celia wrapped her arms around his neck and cried against his chest Fred rested his chin on her head, breathing her in. "C'mon, it'll be okay. Nothing is going to happen to us, alright? You'll see. No one is suffering."

"Hey, come on, look at me, look." He said, pulling her back enough so that he could see her face. It was stained with tears. He took one hand and wiped the tears away from under her eyes. "Nothing is going to happen to any of us, not you, not me, not Ron, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, or George. We're all going to be fine."

"You promise?" Celia was staring into his eyes with such an intensity that he thought he was going to lose it. He could see right down into her soul through her eyes. Fred moved his hand down to the place where her neck met her shoulder.

"I promise." He said, not having full control of his body anymore, and not sure if he would have changed anything if he did, he felt himself move closer to her and then kiss her. He was a little taken back by how natural it felt, but there was something else there too, something deep inside him that felt as though it was being woken up. It was then that he realized how long he had wanted to do that. He wrapped his arms around her taking her in, her scent, her taste, the way she felt against him. When the kiss ended, all he could do was stare at her for a while. It was a minute before he knew how to use words again, and then she spoke first. "Wow…" She said, sounding as though she had just regained speech as well.

"Wow," He answered, nodding slowly. For a minute the two sat silently with each other. "Feeling better?" Fred finally asked. Celia smiled.

"Yeah, thanks for that."

"Anytime." he answered, starting to smirk at the thought of kissing again. He was caught a little off guard by the pillow that Celia hit him with, but he recovered quickly and the two of them declared war, one of the best games to play following a kiss like that. The two of them continued their war until they decided that it was best to end themselves rather than get scolded by McGonagall, so they said goodnight and headed off to sleep.

Sunday morning everyone slept in. When Celia finally did wake up, she wasn't sure if what had happened last night was a dream or real. Furthermore, she wasn't exactly sure how they were supposed to act around everyone else. She wasn't sure if Fred had told anyone about the kiss, and when she had returned to the dorm everyone had been asleep. Celia got ready and headed down to the common room to see the boys already down and sitting around the fire. Hermione was there too. She made eye contact with Fred who smiled at her. 'Ok, so at least I know that it wasn't a dream.' She thought to herself, smiling. She went over to where they were all sitting and took a seat on the floor, leaning against Fred's knees. He responded as he always did by playing with her shoulders. She let out a breath that she wasn't sure she was holding. Her worst fear, that things would become weird between them, had not come true. For most of the day, the group of them lounged around. Later that night, when they had gone back to their rooms Hermione and Ginny approached Celia.

"Hey guys…what?" Celia said, seeing the smiles on both their faces.

"Don't give us that rubbish, you and Fred have been at it all day!" Hermione told her. Celia felt her face flush.

"We've…what? At what?"

"You think we didn't notice the way you two were acting?" Celia blushed. "Go on, out with it then," Ginny started, "something is going on between you and my brother, let's have it." Celia looked at Ginny, and then Hermione, and then smiled and moved up on her bed to make room for the girls.

"I'm not sure exactly how it happened, one minute we were just down in the common room and the next minute we were…er- well, we were kissing." The looks on the girls faces was priceless. Ginny had this look as though she had never thought a brother of hers had the kissing capacity, and Hermione's was one of pure surprise. Their reactions made Celia beam. She liked having it out in the open like this, talking about it made it more real. "What do you think?" Celia said wondering what their reactions would be.

"I never thought of Fred as the relationship type, it's kind of hard to picture." Hermione said. Celia chuckled.

"I know what you mean, but, I dunno it just kind of happened that way. It was weird though, while we were kissing - oh, sorry Ginny, don't worry I won't give you guys details - but while we were kissing I felt, it was like, like something was flowing out of me, and then it got filled up by something else…does that make any sense?" The girls were looking at her kind of dreamily, and Celia could tell they were trying to imagine that same thing happening to them. Celia herself kept replaying the event in her mind, and every time she replayed it, she remembered exactly what it felt like. She had a strong urge to go find him and kiss him again, but reason overruled it, telling her to go to sleep and that she would see him in the morning. Finally, the girls went off to bed, each of them dreaming about feeling what Celia felt.

A/N: Well, this chapter took a long time, to be honest, I wasn't sure about it, and I am still unsure of what I think. I would really appreciate if all the reviewers let me know what they think about the new development between Fred and Celia. Thank you to everyone who is still reading. I hope that the next chapters come out a lot faster than this one did.

I would like to let everyone know, I think I did in one of the earlier chapters, but just as a reminder, I started writing this story before the 5th book came out and when it did, obviously some things changed, so I decided to keep it as though Book 5 did not happen. That being said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I love the reviews! Thank you to you all!

Moonz


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